British Lion, Tony Moore @ Lion Arts Factory, Adelaide 3/9/2024
It was Iron Maiden eve in Adelaide and what a perfect lead in seeing British Lion featuring the legendary Steve Harris. With a sense of excitement and anticipation for Iron Maiden it could be the same for British Lion who were touring Australia for the very first time. It was a small but die hard contingent of fans who assembled at Lion Arts Factory to catch a close up glimpse of the legendary Steve Harris. The thought alone is incredible and hard to fathom that such a legendary musician of this calibre would be playing in the intimate surrounds of this venue. No doubt this will be one of those gigs where fans will be saying “do you remember British Lion and Steve Harris playing Lion Arts Factory”.
Opening proceedings was one man prog rocker Tony Moore whose set was largely focused on album Awake. What was striking about Tony’s performance is the overwhelming sense of positivity and the key message he spoke of being “love” being the only way for the world to get out of its mess. If this wasn’t enough to lift the collective spirits of the faithful I don’t know what would. He is an intriguing character who had a stint in Iron Maiden before the first album and before they found fame and notoriety. Swapping between guitar and keyboards plus the self-created visuals made for quite the engaging performance. There was an element of what is he going to do next. Given that everything that was on stage had to fit in a suitcase it was quite the performance. With a set book ended by Awake and Sleep there were plenty soaring solos and powerful songs making what he did all the more compelling.
To call British Lion a side project is disingenuous and a tad harsh. Yep, there is plenty of interest having someone of the likes of Steve Harris to lift the profile of the band and make the band walk five foot taller but these guys have some seriously good songs and are elite players. Well drilled and match fit they played a ripping eighty minutes. Richard Taylor on lead vocals really does have that front man swagger and it did seem as if they were playing in front of twenty thousand fans. Plenty of fist thumping the crowd were really digging what they were hearing right from get go with This Is My God, Judas and Father Lucifer.
Powering like a stream train there was no stopping this band as they bowled over one rock gem after another. Whilst the show was not sold out this didn’t deter them from pulling out all stops making this one to remember… and for quite some time. The set was focused on 2020 album The Burning there were a couple of new songs 2000 Years and Wasteland thrown in for good measure. It was a real treat watching Steve Harris being this close, who looked like he barely raised a sweat and made playing bass effortless. He seemed to relishing in the chance to play a much smaller venue. No moment of weakness or filler songs with the likes of anthemic The Burning, Spitfire and Lightning being a testament to that. Finishing on Last Chance and Eyes Of The Young rounded out one of those must see shows of 2024.
Live Review By Rob Lyon