STEVE HARRIS's BRITISH LION Announces January 2024 U.K. Tour

BRITISH LION, the side project of IRON MAIDEN bassist and founder Steve Harris, will return to the U.K. for a 16-date winter tour to kick off the new year, starting on January 4 at London's famed Cart & Horses venue in Stratford, where band Harris played his very first gigs. BRITISH LION will also perform on the 2024 Monsters Of Rock cruise, which sets sail from Miami on March 2 for six nights.

Harris comments: "We're all excited to announce an extensive tour of the U.K. in January, kicking off with a special warm up show at the Cart & 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!"

Tickets for the tour are on sale now and can be purchased via britishlionuk.com.

The full list of dates is as follows:

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

Earlier this 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."