VIEWERS tuning into Friday’s return of the Late Late Show to our screens were in for a big surprise when some very familiar faces were beamed to the nation.

The popular Ennis Brass Band played a starring role in the opening sequence of the first show of the new season, playing its famous theme tune along with two other bands surrounded by dancers.

Grainne Kearney of the Ennis Brass Band told The Champion they were sworn to secrecy about their involvement with the Late Late ahead of the broadcast, and they have been delighted with the reaction to their appearance.

The filming was done in Limerick’s Na Piarsaigh GAA club with Grainne saying it was a fantastic experience for the band.

Explaining how they got involved she said, “They got in touch and told us they wanted to do something to show that Ireland is up and running, that people are back doing their hobbies and enjoying themselves. I’m not sure how they found out about us, I’m assuming it was through social media.

“During the filming they had drones flying over us as we were performing and line dancers in the middle of us, it was great fun we all really enjoyed it. Everybody involved was really friendly and lovely.”

“When we first heard about it we thought we would be with bands from all over Ireland, but it turned out it was just two others, the Artane Boys Band and the Boherbuoy Band from Limerick so we got great exposure from it.”

The band was given the score of the well-loved theme tune to practice ahead of the filming.

“We hadn’t played it before but we had some time to practice beforehand, and we were all well aware of it, it’s an iconic tune.

“All of the bands played together, it took a little while to get into the swing of things but everybody gelled together really well and we had good craic.”

The performance was a one-off and the show will revert to its usual intro next week. The Ennis Brass Band marked its 50th anniversary last year, with Grainne saying the involvement in the Late
Late Show was a great way to mark the momentous occasion after Covid prevented any major celebration.

“We have been a little held back and we didn’t really get to do anything big to celebrate our 50th anniversary, though we did have a few concerts and events during the summer which was great.

“However this was a nice thing for us to be able to do now that we are in our 51st year. It was lovely to be able to do this for the whole of the country.

“I don’t know what the viewing figures are but I know a lot of people watch the Late Late Show and we are very, very proud to have been involved.”

Because their appearance was top secret the Ennis Brass Band had to wait until it aired before they could find out people’s reactions.

“Nobody really knew that it was going to happen, apart from ourselves, until the show was on. We weren’t allowed to tell anybody, we couldn’t put it up on social media or anything like that. I suppose they just wanted to surprise people.”

“But we got a lovely reaction once it aired, we’ve had posts up on social media congratulating us which was nice and then we put it up ourselves on our Facebook page and it just got a lovely, lovely reaction. People have been saying well done and they are just delighted for us really.”

So after their brush with national stardom what’s next for the Ennis Brass Band? “Our next big thing would be Christmas and we are hoping to be able to go out and play as often as we can before then.

“We just recently performed at the bandstand in Kilkee and it was great, there was a lovely crowd and the sun was splitting the rocks.

“We’re not 100% what we are doing next, but Christmas is a big thing for us and we will more than likely be performing a concert and playing in the town.

“It’s great to be able to play together when we can, though sometimes it’s hard with the weather and we are all volunteers.

“We’re a big group and a lot of us have been with the band for a long time so it’s like a great community and we love what we do so for us to be involved with the Late Late Show has been a big pat on the back for us.”

Anybody with experience of playing a brass instrument is welcome to get in touch about joining the band, while beginners classes are held for those who want to learn with the next round set to begin in March.

“We are very welcoming and we’d love to hear from people who has experience and can play and are interested in playing in a brass band,” she said.

She concluded, “The people of Ennis and Clare have always been so supportive of us, anytime we are out playing we always get such a good reception and we are just very, very appreciative of that.”