STEVE HARRIS's BRITISH LION Announces October 2024 U.S. West Coast Tour Dates

BRITISH LION, the side project of IRON MAIDEN bassist and founder Steve Harris, has announced new tour dates, including first-ever tour stops in Australia and New Zealand, starting in Perth on August 31, with dates in Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and a stop in Auckland, New Zealand on September 15. 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 3, the world-famous Whisky A Go Go in Los Angeles on October 7, and an appearance at Aftershock festival in Sacramento on October 10. 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, 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!"

Tickets go on sale on Thursday, July 18 at 10 a.m. local time.

Tour dates:

Aug. 31 - Perth, AUS - Magnet House
Sep. 03 - Adelaide, AUS - Lion Arts Factory
Sep. 05 - Melbourne, AUS - Croxton Bandroom
Sep. 09 - Brisbane, AUS - The Triffid
Sep. 11 - Sydney, AUS - Manning
Sep. 15 - Auckland, NZ - Paraoa Brewing Co
Sep. 23 - Osaka, JAP - Big Cat
Sep. 25 - Tokyo, JAP - O-East
Oct. 03 - San Diego, CA - Brick By Brick
Oct. 07 - Los Angeles, CA - Whisky A Go Go
Oct. 10 - Sacramento, CA - Aftershock Festival

Last summer, BRITISH LION completed a 15-date tour throughout Europe. It included 13 headline tour dates, as well as festival appearances at Hellfest and Sweden Rock Festival.

BRITISH LION's second album, "The Burning", came out in January 2020 in digipack CD, double gatefold vinyl and digital download formats via Explorer1 Music (E1). The LP was recorded, engineered and mixed at Barnyard Studios by Tony Newton and produced by Steve Harris.

BRITISH LION's first U.S. tour took place in January and February 2020.

BRITISH LION comprises singer Richard Taylor, guitarists David Hawkins and Grahame Leslie, Harris on bass and keyboards, and drummer Simon Dawson.

Asked by the Tampa Bay Times what the itch is that BRITISH LION scratches that he doesn't get in his job with MAIDEN, Harris said: "I suppose playing small clubs and being close and personal with the audience. I love playing big places as well. I enjoy them all, and I'm very lucky that I can do them all. But also, it's clubs that I never played with MAIDEN, even in Europe. There's a famous club called the Milky Way in Amsterdam, which I managed to play with BRITISH LION, but I never did that with MAIDEN. There's places that I'm playing on [the U.S.] tour that I've never played before. So it's all new ground. It's a challenge. It's nice. I like a challenge."

In a 2020 interview with Bass Player magazine, Harris said that he loves playing small clubs. "I'm very lucky that I can play all types of gigs; massive gigs and small ones as well," he said. "It's a change. I'm not trying to conquer the world with this band; there's not enough years left in me to do that anyway."

Asked if the different venues present a different set of challenges, Steve said: "I actually think it should be the same, whether you're playing for 200 or 200,000 people, you know. To me, there's no difference. You still give 110 percent wherever you're playing. We had one gig where the promoter just didn't do [anything]. I think we had, like, 95 people in there, but it was still a great gig, one of the best of the tour. It doesn't matter. We're still going for it, and I was proud that we went out there. It was fantastic."

Photo credit: John McMurtrie