SOFIA, BULGARIA - JUNE 04: (L-R) Dave Murray, Janick Gers, Steve Harris, Bruce Dickinson, Nicko McBrain and Adrian Smith of Iron Maiden pose for a group portrait at the Lokomotiv Stadium on June 4th 2007 in Sofia, Bulgaria. (Photo by Mick Hutson/Redferns)
BRITISH LION FEAT. IRON MAIDEN’S STEVE HARRIS ANNOUNCES FIRST EVER TOUR OF AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND AND THE U.S. WEST COAST
British Lion announces new tour dates including first-ever tour stops in Australia and New Zealand starting in Perth on August 31st with dates in Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and a stop in Auckland, NZ on September 15th. The band will then return to Japan for the first time in six years with shows in Osaka and Tokyo before returning to the U.S. for their long-awaited live debut on the West Coast with shows at San Diego’s Brick By Brick on October 3rd, the world-famous Whisky A Go Go in Los Angeles on October 7th, and an appearance at Aftershock Festival in Sacramento on October 10th. Tony Moore’s Awake will be the special guest on all dates with the exception of British Lion’s performance at Aftershock.
“We’re really excited to be able to play our first ever shows in Australia and New Zealand” says Steve Harris. “We’ve been to the U.S. before, but this is our first time to the West Coast! And to top it off,” continues Harris, “we’ll also be returning to Japan to complete what I’m sure will be a fantastic tour! We look forward to seeing you all on the road!”
Going on to chat about an unnamed forthcoming solo project, the guitarist said; “I’m very excited about it, but I can’t say. I’m doing a lot of singing, but the person I’m working with, we’re sort of splitting the vocals. But that’ll be coming. I’m very excited about it, but I’m sworn to secrecy at the moment.”
Finally, long-rumoured to have been in line for the job that eventually went to Vivian Campbell, Smith confirmed that he had been in contention for Def Leppard following the death of Steve Clarke in 1991. When asked if that really was the case, a tight-lipped Adrian replied; “Well, emmm… [long pause] I was, yeah. Yeah I was. I’m not sure… I want to write more books; that might be in my next one! [laughing] There’s whole story about that, there’s a whole story about that.”
British Lion, the side-project of Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris, have announced their first live dates on the west coast of the US, as well as debut shows in Australia and New Zealand.
The run of 11 dates kicks off with five shows in Australia before the short hop across the Tasman Sea for a booking at the 400-capacity Parāoa Brewing Co in Whangaparāoa, New Zealand. Two dates in Japan will follow before the long haul across the Pacific to California, where shows in San Diego and Los Angeles will prepare the band for their booking at the Aftershock Festival in Sacramento. Full dates below.
“We’re really excited to be able to play our first-ever shows in Australia and New Zealand,” says Harris. “We’ve been to the US before, but this is our first time to the West Coast! And to top it off, we’ll also be returning to Japan to complete what I’m sure will be a fantastic tour! We look forward to seeing you all on the road!”
Support at all shows apart from Aftershock will come from one-man act Tony Moore’s Awake. Moore, who was a keyboard-playing member of Iron Maiden for long enough to play a single show with the band, at the Bridge House in East London back in 1977, has supported British Lion throughout 2024.
