The tour will feature Tony Moore, a brief one time Iron Maiden keyboardist, and his one man show Awake. Speaking on the upcoming tour and the inclusion of Moore, Harris said, “We’re all excited to announce an extensive tour of the UK in January, kicking off with a special warm-up show at the Cart and Horses in London. Tony Moore’s Awake – one man show – will be our very special guest for the tour. Tony was, of course, in Iron Maiden back in 1977 so it is great to have him on the bill. 2024 will also see us make our third appearance on The Monsters Of Rock Cruise in March. We can’t wait to see you all out on the road!”

British Lion has its origins dating back to 2012, when Harris assembled a band to perform live shows while he embarked on what was supposed to be a much toned down solo project. The bassist wished to explore a more hard rock oriented sound which would allow him to play mush smaller venues and feature a mix of bass styles.

After mentoring a group of musicians in the 1990s, including vocalist Richard Taylor, guitarists David Hawkins and Grahame Leslie and drummer Simon Dawson, Harris decided to incorporate them into his solo effort, although the band was designated a backing band for Harris. This quickly changed however, with Harris forming a completely new band called British Lion after Harris’ debut album of the same name.

Harking back to a time when Harris and Iron Maiden played small venues, pubs, clubs and theatres, the band usually becomes active once Iron Maiden tours come to a conclusion and Harris can nostalgically indulge in the smaller scene circuit, playing venues such as The Furnace in Liverpool and Old Fire Station in Bournemouth.

British Lion tour tickets can be purchased here.

British Lion UK Tour:

04/01/2024 – Cart and Horses – London
05/01 – Craufurd Arms – Milton Keynes
06/01 – Nightrain – Bradford
07/01 – Furnace – Liverpool
09/01 – Lemon Tree – Aberdeen
10/01 – Liquid Rooms – Edinburgh
12/01 – Brickyard – Carlisle
13/01 – Arts Centre – Colchester
14/01 – Ballroom – Margate
16/01 – Redhouse Cymru – Merthyr Tydfil
17/01 – Cheese and Grain – Frome
18/01 – Old Fire Station – Bournemouth
20/01 – Strings Bar and Venue – Isle Of Wight
21/01 – Leo’s Red Lion – Gravesend
22/01 – Chinnerys – Southend
23/01 – Black Box – Hastings

British Lion consists of bass guitarist and keyboardist Steve Harris, lead vocalist Richard Taylor, guitarist and keyboardist David Hawkins, guitarist Grahame Leslie and drummer Simon Dawson. The band are signed to German-British record label, Parlophone. Steve Harris is best known for being the bassist in award winning British heavy metal band, Iron Maiden. British Lion were founded as a side-project by Steve Harris in 2012 and have released two studio albums, self titled album British Lion (2012) and The Burning (2020).

The British Lion tour is designed around the Iron Maiden’s 2023 tour schedule, as Steve Harris will also be touring with Iron Maiden this summer. Iron Maiden’s ‘The Future Past’ European tour will also begin in May 2023 and carry on into the August. No support acts for their shows have been released as of yet. Steve Harris has appeared on all 17 of Iron Maiden’s studio albums, self titled album Iron Maiden (1980), Killers (1981), The Number of the Beast (1982), Piece of Mind (1983), Powerslave (1984), Somewhere in Time (1986), Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988), No Prayer for the Dying (1990), Fear of the Dark (1992), The X Factor (1995), Virtual XI (1998), Brave New World (2000), Dance of Death (2006), The Final Frontier (2010), The Book of Souls (2015) and Senjutsu (2021).

Iron Maiden was created by bassist, Steve Harris in 1975, taking the band five years to release their self titled debut album. The bassist was an architectural draughtsman, in London, before finding success in the band. In an interview in 2020 for Nights with Alice Cooper, Harris explained ”Well, straight after school, really, I went straight into that job. I did my college stuff and on the weekends, two nights a week, I made sure I got qualified to a certain degree because I thought, If the band don’t work, then I’ll have something to fall back on.” 

Steve Harris has gone on to form great success in both Iron Maiden and British Lion and the upcoming tours for both bands are expected to be a triumph.

British Lion UK & European 2023 Tour Dates:

27/05/2023 – Cvetlicarna – Ljubljana

02/06 – Pakkahuone – Tampere

06/06 – Ole Bull Scene – Bergen

08/06 – Sweden Rock – Solvesborg

12/06– Kamienna 12 – Krakow

16/06 –  Hellfest –  Clisson

20/06 –  Capitol – Hannover

23/06 – Opium – Dublin

29/06 – Rebellion – Manchester

02/07 – Rescue Rooms – Nottingham

10/07 – Q Factory – Amsterdam

14/07– Legend – Milan

19/07 – Garaje Beat Club – Murcia

24/07 – FZW – Dortmund

30/07 – Backstage Halle – Munich

Tickets for the tour are on sale now. To access tickets, click here.

People! The time has come to put your fookin pants on your head and rock like Satan is eating your private parts with a pointy fork! We are back with a new album #Motorheart & UK tour, so pre-order now and access the tour pre-sale on June 8! https://t.co/jHzYgZDwuo pic.twitter.com/LboKr1NW0I

— The Darkness (@thedarkness) June 4, 2021

In a statement on Twitter, the band’s frontman Justin Hawkins said “The time has come, the walrus said…to put your fookin pants on your head and rock like Satan is eating your private parts with a pointy fork! Yes, we, The Darkness, are the fuck back on tour, praise Satan’s better half…come and party with us like it’s the last orders at the last chance saloon.”

The new album is a follow up to the 2019 release “Easter is Cancelled”, and its first single will be released next month. According to a press release, the song will be filled with “their trademark blazing guitar riffs and solos, soaring falsetto and immeasurable rock’n’roll extravagance.”

Speaking about the upcoming tour dates, Justin Hawkins added: “Get in kids, it’s The Darkness, wot you knows and luvs, plus British Lion – Steve Harris’ top rock band who are guaranteed to blow your socks straight up your welcoming arses. What a night! Delirium! Outfits, including hats! Denim that smells of hamsters! Who doesn’t want that? See you down the front, connoisseurs of the finest that life has to offer…”

They will be supported on tour by Steve Harris’ British Lion.  Speaking about the tour on their website, Steve Harris writes “We’re really looking forward to finally play an extensive run of live shows which will be our first ever support tour with The Darkness across the UK, in support of our second album The Burning which was released last year. Being Lowestoft lads, our guitar player David Hawkins has known them for a very long time and says they’re really nice guys. Also I’ve never seen The Darkness live before so it makes for a great tour! “

The band were due to enjoy a Europe wide tour last year, but unfortunately it was cancelled due to the pandemic. They have also been confirmed to appear at Download festival 2022.

TOUR DATES 

NOVEMBER 2021

17.11 – Brighton Dome, Brighton

19.11 – Winter Gardens, Margate

20.11 – O2 Academy, Bournemouth

21.11 – Cliffs Pavillion, Southend

23.11 – UEA, Norwich

24.11 – Corn Exchange, Cambridge

26.11 – The Hexagon, Reading

27.11 – The Great Hall, Cardiff

29.11 – The Great Hall, Exeter

30.11 – G Live, Guilford

DECEMBER

2.12 – O2 Academy, Liverpool

3.12 – Academy, Manchester

4.12 – Bonus Arena, Hull

6.12 – The Victoria, Stoke-on-Trent

7.12 – O2 Academy, Bristol

9.12 – Barrowlands, Glasgow

10.12 – O2 Academy, Newcastle

11.12 – O2 Academy, Leeds

13.12 – Rock City, Nottingham

14.12 – O2 Academy, Birmingham

16.12 – O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, London

17.12 – O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, London