In March 2005 the La's announced dates in Britain and Ireland, their first in a decade, along with festivals sets such as Glastonbury and the Summer Sonic festival in Japan, with the line-up of Lee Mavers (vocals, guitar), John Power (bass), Jay Lewis of the band Cracatilla (guitar) and Nick Miniski (drums).

In March 2009, Mavers made a surprise appearance in Birmingham, joining Pete Doherty on stage to play "Son of a Gun" and "There She Goes".

Mavers and Murphy continued impromptu gigs in Sunderland, Glasgow and London, before heading abroad to Amsterdam and later to the Rock En Seine Festival in Paris and at UK festivals Kendal Calling and Bestival, before bringing the 'stripped back' sets to a close at a homecoming show at Liverpool's O2 Academy after announcing they were set to return soon after recruiting a full band.

[7] An interview with Mavers also appears in the 2013 book, Isle of Noises: Conversations with Great British Songwriters (Picador), by Daniel Rachel.

Within the conversation, Mavers discussed the themes of certain songs and his songwriting craft (essentially describing himself as a conduit rather than author), again decried the sole album released by The La's, and also explained he has a "great patience" for the music to happen.