Iron Maiden was originally due to hit Australia and New Zealand back in 2020 with their ‘Legacy Of The Beast’ tour that was sadly claimed by covid. They promised to return and those dates are almost upon us now – as ‘The Future Past Tour’ prepares to roar into a city near you at the end of the month. The tour, which includes songs from both the band’s most recent studio album ‘Senjutsu’ as well as 1986’s seminal album ‘Somewhere In Time’, alongside other fan favourites, played to over 750,000 fans at more than 30 sold-out shows across Europe in the summer of 2023. Featuring one of the most spectacular stage productions of the band’s career. What makes this Tour even sweeter was the news that prior to the Maiden shows Steve Harris’ British Lion would also be undertaking their first ever tour Downunder: playing dates the night before Maiden across the country.
As one of the first bands I ever saw way back on the ‘World Piece Tour’ getting the chance to catch up with Steve Harris is something my teenage self would have flipped out over. I still remember waiting for the band to sign my Grand Prix lobby card after the show (their support that year) as it was the only thing I had on me at the time! It’s something that still takes pride of place in my memorabilia collection. So Perth get ready because not only do we get to see British Lion’s first show on Australian soil, we also get to see Iron Maiden open their tour playing their first dates Downunder since 2016!
Steve: Hi mate!
Mark: Hi Steve, thank you so much for talking to The Rockpit today. One of my favourite musical memories as a young teen is seeing you play with Maiden at Leicester De Montfort Hall on the ‘World Piece Tour’ and here we are just a few years later!
Steve: I remember that place! (Laughs) It has a really low stage.
Mark: (Laughs) It did, a great place to see a band. It’s brilliant that you are kicking off the Maiden Tour in Perth this year and even better that you are bringing British Lion over to play your first dates on Australian soil!
Steve: Yes, I’m looking forward to both shows really for different reasons of course, but I can’t wait to get there.
Mark: I loved the (British Lion) album ‘The Burning’ a few years back and hope to hear a lot of material from that at the show.
Steve: There will be a lot off stuff off that, we’ll be playing both albums, but a lot from that one.
Mark: It’s a very different sound to Maiden of course, British Lion reminds me of a lot of the music that was around me growing up listening to other people’s record collections.
Steve: That’s the thing, it was intentional – the sound is a bit retro with a modern edge to it I suppose, but very influenced by UFO and stuff like that, a bit of Thin Lizzy maybe. More the mainstream British Rock bands, and I suppose some of that stuff influenced Maiden as well, though the more ‘Proggy’ stuff influenced Maiden. British Lion is more straight Rock with melody.
Mark: I had a few mates catch you on the Monsters of Rock Cruise earlier in the year and they said you sounded absolutely fantastic so I can’t wait to see the show. It must be a very different dynamic playing some of the smaller venues. What’s it like as British Lion returning to places like The Cart and Horses? Does that bring back great memories?
Steve: Yeah, it’s fantastic, especially playing there of course. It is very different though, not size wise, but the gig is in the basement now rather than the bars upstairs. But you know, playing a small club or pub gig, I just really enjoy playing those. I mean I enjoy playing all gigs really, festivals, arenas with Maiden, whatever: I’m very lucky I get to do all of them, and not many people can say that I suppose, it’s a fantastic situation.
Mark: I have to tell you Steve that the build up and the anticipation in Perth is really off the charts at the moment. There’s an Iron Maiden official beer launch here this evening.
Steve: (Laughs) I wasn’t aware of that! (Laughs) That’s great!
Mark: Yes, it’s a launch of the Nomad beers, so it’s all kicking off tonight. And talking of kicking off I understand that you might be playing a bit of football when you’re over?
Steve: Well I’d like to, it looks like there’s an opportunity to play. Sadly we can’t really play with the Maiden Team as we haven’t got enough players out. Usually when Raven Age (Steve’s son George’s band) are supporting we have three or four players from them, also one of our Maiden guys is not working for us anymore – he works for Burnley Football Club. So there’s only two or three of us that actually still play out here, so hopefully we can pick up a game playing with someone else.
Mark: Let’s hope so, I have heard that some of the huge Hammers fans over here have tried to put something together for you, so let’s hope that happens.
Steve: That’d be nice.
Mark: The big question a lot of people are asking is will there be new British Lion music, it’s been 4 years since ‘The Burning’?
Steve: Yeah we’ve got two new songs in the set and lots of new ideas, but just the two that we’re playing already. They’re good strong songs actually so I hope that you’ll like them.
Mark: Fantastic, sounds great. One of the biggest questions we got asked when I told our readers I was talking to you was, is there ever going to be a Steve Harris book?
Steve: I’d love to do a book at some point. (Laughs) But I know how long it will take!
Mark: (Laughs)
Steve: Bruce has obviously done his book (Laughs) it’s quite funny, he can write stuff wherever he is, he can just do that, I don’t know how! He’s just one of those people who can just do anything at all different times, in-between times and whatever! One day I walked into the gig and there he was scribbling away, and I said “You’ve one of those kids that did his homework in the dinner hour aren’t you!” (Laughs) And we both laughed! But he can do that kind of stuff. But for me, if I’m doing something, I just have to put my mind to it a lot more. You know, spending more time, so I know how long it would take. I’ve written a few forwards for other people’s books, and they’re obviously not very long. But even the amount of time it took me to plan out and do those, I thought “Oh god! If I ever write a book it’s gonna take a helluva lot of work!” (Laughs)
Mark: (Laughs)
Steve: It’s just trying to find the time to fit it all in between the bands and football and the family and everything else.
Mark: I know how that feels!
Steve: But Mark, I will do it at some point.
Mark: You mentioned Bruce and I know Adrian did his, that brought in the fishing – his great passion. I’d love to read yours with the football in there: two of my great passions music and football! It would be a wonderful combination.
Steve: Yeah, it will… hopefully! (Laughs) I suppose we’ll see! There’s so much to write about too. I could probably do half the book just about the early times. we’ve had such a long career. We’ll see anyway.
Mark: It is a fascinating history and that’s one of the things I wanted to touch on as well. When do you count the 50 years? The band obviously officially formed in 1975, but do you count it from that day, or the first gig, or the first album?
Steve: Well I suppose I do count it from ’75 really because as you say that’s when we first started. So even though some people think it was ’76, for me it was really ’75. So that’s the date for me, but I suppose a lot of people probably count it from the first album. But people have their own ideas! I get messages from people all the time saying things like “Happy 40th! of such and such an album,” and I’m like (Laughs) “Oh OK!”
Mark: (Laughs)
Steve: (Laughs) A lot of people know far more than me about that kind of stuff! But it is a big milestone 50 years of the band, it’s pretty amazing really.
Mark: It’s huge! Not many make it that far and for me you are the most British of Rock bands. It’s been an absolute pleasure to watch you over the years.
Mark: There is one anniversary though that we can pin down, which I think was also one of my favourite tours. ‘Powerslave’ has its 40th anniversary this year. What memories do you have of that tour?
Steve: Well it was a massive tour, the longest tour we ever did so I immediately think of that. At the time we thought it was amazing that you could go on tour as long as that. And back in those days when you’re young and jumping out of your skin you think you’re invincible! But we realised that we weren’t at the end of it! (Laughs)
Mark: (Laughs)
Steve: But it was a great tour, a long tour, an arduous tour and I think it just taught us to pace ourselves a little bit better, and I think we have done a little bit better since then.
Mark: Do you see that as a big step for the band playing those huge dates in the U.S.?
Steve: Well we played big venues in the States on the tour before that in ’83 with ‘Piece of Mind’, so we’d already done that level of arenas, so to me it was more that the ‘Powerslave’ tour consolidated it all really.
Mark: A wonderful stage set too, I always remember seeing that and being absolutely blown away. The visuals were just sensational as they always are for Maiden. Let’s close with a couple of questions we ask everyone on their first visit to The Rockpit. The first is: If you could have been a fly on the wall for the recording of any great album in the history of Rock and Roll what would you love to have witnessed being put together in the studio?
Steve: Oh wow, well one of my favourite albums of all time is ‘Foxtrot’ by Genesis, even just to hear the musical piece of ‘Supper’s Ready’ I would have loved to have been there for that.
Mark: The 1972 classic! Absolutely one of a kind that album. And if I remember rightly Supper’s Ready almost the entire Side 2 of the record. We always leave with an easy one Steve; “What is the meaning of life?”
Steve: (Laughs) I don’t think that’s an easy question is it really! (Laughs) I think if we were in a pub that could be a very long and interesting answer! (Laughs)
Mark: It would! (Laughs)
Steve: I mean to me it’s just trying to cram in as much as you can, and enjoying it to the full. That’s why I do it. People wonder why you do all these things, you’ll drive yourself into an early grave doing all this football, British Lion as well as everything else. But to me you’ve just got to grab every moment and live every day to the full. Do as much as you can.
Mark: You’ve got to do what you love and keep doing it as long as you can. Talking to you Steve I don’t know whether I’m more excited to see British Lion or Maiden.
Steve: I’m excited to play both, as much as each other for different reasons. I just love playing so whatever the size of the place it doesn’t really matter to me, I just enjoy it all.
Mark: I think for me it’s the fact that we get to see the first date in Australia and all my mates overseas have been telling me what a great show you put on!
Steve: We’ve got a lot to live up to then haven’t we! (Laughs)
Mark: Thank you so much for your time Steve, it’s been great to talk.
Steve: Likewise mate cheers! We’ll catch up in Perth!
Mark: I’ll see you there.
