British Lion are excited to announce their return to the stage in 2025, to play a set of European shows this summer, including a one-off date in England. They will then embark on a major headline tour of the UK this winter, which includes a five night residency at London’s legendary Cart & Horses venue in Stratford where Iron Maiden played their first-ever gigs.
British Lion have performed there a number of times in recent years, with sold-out audiences revelling in the chance to see the formidable hard rock quintet in such intimate surroundings. These five shows will be additionally powerful as they come at the end of a year of celebrations for Iron Maiden’s 50th Anniversary, bringing Steve Harris back to what fans revere as the birthplace of Iron Maiden.
He comments “We’re really happy to be doing a number of European shows in the summer as well as a more extensive tour of the UK at the end of the year. It’s great to be able to return to The Booking Hall in Dover, which is our only UK summer show ! It was under threat of closing last year but was saved with the support from British Lion and other music fans around the country! We look forward to seeing you all on the road!”
British Lion will be joined by special guest support acts at the UK and European headline shows. Tony Moore’s Awake will be special guests from Dover through to Newcastle while Stray will be special guests from Bradford through to London.
The upcoming BRITISH LION dates are as follows:
FESTIVAL PERFORMANCE 20th June – Dessel Graspop Metal Meeting, BEL
EUROPEAN HEADLINE TOUR 3rd Aug – Dover, Booking Hall, UK 4th Aug – Eindhoven, Dynamo, NL 5th Aug – Saarbrücken, Garage, GER 8th Aug – Barcelona, Salamandra, SPA 9th Aug – Murcia, Mamba, SPA 10th Aug – Seville, Custom, SPA 12th Aug – Faro, Moto Clube, POR
UK HEADLINE TOUR 28th Nov – Buckley, The Tivoli 29th Nov – Troon Winter Storm Festival 30th Nov – Newcastle The Anarchy Brew 2nd Dec – Bradford Nightrain * 3rd Dec – Manchester, Gorilla * 4th Dec – Nuneaton Queens Hall * 6th Dec – Isle of Wight Strings Bar & Venue * 7th Dec – Exeter Phoenix * 8th Dec – Frome Cheese and Grain * 10th Dec – Cardiff Tramshed * 11th Dec – Colchester Arts Centre * 12th Dec – Gravesend Leo’s Red Lion * SOLD OUT 13th Dec – Southend Chinnerys * 15th Dec – London Cart & Horses * SOLD OUT 16th Dec – London Cart & Horses * SOLD OUT 17th Dec – London Cart & Horses * SOLD OUT 18th Dec – London Cart & Horses * SOLD OUT 19th Dec – London Cart & Horses * SOLD OUT
Special guests come from Tony Moore’s Awake (Dover to Newcastle) & Stray (Bradford to London)*
British Lion announces new tour dates in November and December with their first ever shows in Mexico and Colombia as well as returning to Chile, Argentina and Brazil. Tony Moore’s Awake will be the special guest on all dates.
“We’re really excited to be able to play our first ever shows in Mexico and Colombia, as well as returning to Chile, Argentina and Brazil” says Steve Harris. “We’ve had a great time playing gigs across Australia, New Zealand and Japan and the U.S. over the past couple of months, so to continue into Central and South America is going to be a great way to round off 2024 for us,” continues Harris, “We look forward to seeing you all on the tour!”
Tickets go on sale:
Mexico, Colombia & Brazil – Wednesday 30th Oct at 10am local time Chile – Friday 1st November at 11am local time Argentina – Friday 1st November at 12pm local time Tickets can be purchased, HERE.
NOV 19 – Mexico City, MEXICO – Foro Puebla NOV 23 – Bogota, COLOMBIA – Auditorio CEG NOV 26 – Santiago, CHILE – RBX NOV 30 – Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA – El Teatrito DEC 5 – Sao Paulo, BRAZIL – Fabrique
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!”
Tickets go on sale on Thursday, July 18th at 10am local time and can be purchased, HERE.
Tickets for Aftershock Festival are on sale now and can be purchased, HERE.
2024 Tour
AUG 31 Perth, AUS Magnet House SEP 3 Adelaide, AUS Lion Arts Factory SEP 5 Melbourne, AUS Croxton Bandroom SEP 9 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 3 San Diego, CA Brick By Brick OCT 7 Los Angeles, CA Whisky A Go Go OCT 11 Sacramento, CA Aftershock Festival
British Lion have announced a very special show at The Booking Hall in Dover, on Tuesday 21st May. Their appearance will be part of a campaign to keep one of Britain’s small music venues still operating. The owner of the Old Harbour Station which houses The Booking Hall Dover is putting the property up for sale. This puts the future of The Booking Hall music venue at immediate threat as there is no guarantee the venue could keep operating under new ownership. The likeliest outcome would be that the building would be purchased by developers, meaning no more music venue.
Stuart Cameron, of The Booking Hall, comments: “It’s fantastic to welcome back to the venue British Lion for a fundraiser show to help us purchase the Old Harbour Station. The amount of support the venue has received since announcing our (The Booking Hall and Music Venue Trust) plans to purchase the building, and securing the presence of a live music venue forever in Dover, has been overwhelming at times. None more so than when Steve Harris and his team reached out to offer their services free of charge, so that all funds can go straight into making the purchase a reality! Also performing on the same evening is Tony Moore, another Iron Maiden legend. We can’t thank British Lion, Steve and his team, and Tony Moore enough. It’s incredible to see that our little venue in Dover can get such amazing support from such industry veterans.”
To coincide with this very special show, British Lion will also return to London’s legendary Cart & Horses venue in Stratford where Iron Maiden played their first-ever gigs. British Lion played three packed out shows there in January and are thrilled to add a fourth show there in what is fast-becoming a home from home. The band will also play summer shows in Faro, Portugal and Seville, Spain in June.
Steve says, “We were very concerned when we heard that The Booking Hall was at risk of closing, it is a fantastic venue and we just wanted to get involved and be a part in keeping this brilliant music venue alive! We’re looking forward to playing a few other shows including a return to the Cart & Horses as well as shows in Faro & Seville in July.”
20th May – Cart & Horses, London – UK SOLD OUT 21st May – The Booking Hall – Dover, – UK 20th July – Moto Clube Festival, Faro – PORTUGAL 21st July – Sala Custom, Seville – SPAIN
British Lion return to the UK for a 16-date winter tour to kick off the new year, starting on January 4th at London’s famed Cart & Horses venue in Stratford, where Steve played his very first gigs. Tony Moore’s Awake (one man show) will be our very special guest on the tour.
We will also be performing on the 2024 Monsters Of Rock Cruise, which sets sail from Miami on March 2nd for six nights.
BRITISH LION 2019 Photo copyright by JOHN McMURTRIE
Photo Credit – John McMurtrie
Harris comments, “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!”
Jan 03 – London, Cart & Horses (New Date Added – Warm up for the Warm up) SOLD OUT Jan 04 – London, Cart & Horses (SOLD OUT) Jan 05 – Milton Keynes, Craufurd Arms (SOLD OUT) 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 (SOLD OUT) Jan 14 – Margate, Ballroom Jan 16 – Merthyr Tydfil, Redhouse Cymru (SOLD OUT) Jan 17 – Frome, Cheese & Grain Jan 18 – Bournemouth, Old Fire Station Jan 20 – Isle Of Wight, Strings Bar & Venue (SOLD OUT) Jan 21 – Gravesend, Leo’s Red Lion (SOLD OUT) Jan 22 – Southend, Chinnerys Jan 23 – Hastings, Black Box Jan 24 – London, Cart & Horses (New Date Added – Warm down or worn out) SOLD OUT Mar 02-07 – Monsters of Rock Cruise 2024
Catch the live video for ‘Legend’ below, which was released earlier in 2023.
Song written by Taylor/Hawkins/Harris and released by Parlophone & Explorer1 Music Filmed and edited by Ryan Titley. Engineered and mixed by Tony Newton.
