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.