Six months ago, Brand New disappeared from the music scene. Following the huge success of 2003’s Deja Entendu, with their successive album toted as the “Most Anticipated Album of 2005,” it seemed that the indie-world’s latest sensation had crashed and burned under the pressure of its own expectations.

Last Thursday night at the Century Lounge in Providence, R.I., a sold-out crowd of diehard Brand New fans not only witnessed the band’s first show in over a year, they witnessed one of the best comebacks in modern indie rock.

Following a folky set from singer/songwriter Kevin Devine, Brand New lead singer Jesse Lacey climbed onstage, starting the show off with an acoustic number, “Soco Amaretto Lime.” Before Lacey could finish the first verse, the audience was singing so loudly it drowned out the music, prompting a rare smile from Lacey as he strummed along.

While Brand New’s talent was clear, their sabatical had clearly taken its toll. When Lacey forgot the words to “Me vs. Maradona vs. Elvis,” causing guitarist Vin Accardi to break up in laughter, he blamed it on recording the band’s new album instead of rehearsing.

Lacey also made several mistakes during the heartbreakingly poignant “Play Crack the Sky” before switching to his acoustic guitar and starting the song from the top.

“You guys paid the money,” he explained in his soft, melancholy voice. “You deserve a good song.”

The night’s show, one of three shows this month before the band’s summer tour, was held to raise money for the lead singer of Hot Rod Circuit, Andy Jackson, who lost his house in a fire last month.

Brand New played all of the fan favorites, including the single “The Quiet Things that No One Ever Knows,” the hook-heavy “I Will Play My Game Beneath the Spin Light,” and the anxiously sexy “Sic Transit Gloria.”

Throughout the night, the bond between the band members was obvious: Even when Lacey played alone, Accardi, bassist Garrett Tierney and drummer Brian Lane sat on the side of the stage, singing along.

Brand New played 13 songs from their two albums, as well as two untitled songs from the as-yet-unfinished album fans are dying for. The songs, one of which was on demos leaked earlier this year, sound more reminiscent of Deja Entendu than My Favorite Weapon, slightly less introspective lyrically but a little more ethereal.

The band ended with the bitingly caustic “Seventy Times Seven” and “Jude Law and a Semester Abroad,” inciting fans as they rushed the stage, falling over each other as they begged for more.