To many metal aficionados, assessing the decision of one of the most well-known musicians — from one of the industry’s most iconic bands — to temporarily surrender 35 years of headlining stadiums worldwide might yield one word: ludicrous.
It might seem ludicrous Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris would return to his English band’s roots playing in bars. It could be oh so crazy he would give up being piloted across the globe in a 777 — by his own vocalist, no less.
But for Harris, it’s always been about the music. And for the first time, the ageless wonder has crafted songs outside of the Iron Maiden moniker. Which means an outlet needed to be created to give those tunes a breath of fresh air, to be unleashed upon anyone willing to listen to them. Harris brought that team effort known as British Lion to the Rock Box last Friday night marking only the fifth North American show ever for his first venture outside of Iron Maiden.
Although the group released its self-titled debut in 2012, it is strong sophomore effort The Burning, which dropped only seven days before the show, that spurred Harris and vocalist Richard Taylor, guitarists David Hawkins and Grahame Leslie and drummer Simon Dawson to hit the States for the first time as a quintet.
But along with a new band and fresh songs, Harris is as good as anyone at making statements clear regarding those things without saying a single word. Though he mouthed nearly every syllable to every song as is his wont, Harris didn’t speak anything to the intimate crowd of roughly 220 that showed their devotion to his Maiden stature, supported by German duo The Picturebooks and locals S.A. Territories, on a night Queensryche, John 5 and Eve To Adam were playing the Aztec Theatre. That was just one indication, lest anyone have doubts, that the band is British Lion — not Steve Harris & Friends (see 52-photo slideshow with setlist & ATM footage of “Us Against the World” and “Lightning” below).
Not since Megadeth bassist David Ellefson in September 2018 at Fitzgerald’s (coverage here) had a musician of Harris’ might played a San Antonio bar. Unlike the former’s self-described “basstory” setup and promotion of his new coffee, Harris stuck to the script of spreading exposure of his new bandmates’ talents. They did not treat anyone to bonus Maiden material, and yet no one in the crowd was disappointed hearing nothing but two albums worth of British Lion material as evidenced by ATM Facebook Live footage of “Legend” and “Spit Fire.”
Taylor engaged the crowd while introducing the latter tune, saying he wished the band could remain in San Antonio. But he also showed a polite yet no-nonsense side exemplifying the concert experience in the 21st century by calling out the “fan who’s been filming the shole show. If you could not film the last two songs, it would be appreciated. I mean, we are putting on a live show. It just kind of ruins things.”
The Picturebooks, meanwhile, have the honor of opening the tour on what has to be a dream experience for them. They took to the stage with an immediate thunderous sound that would’ve turned heads during intermission of the simultaneous death-metal show happening in the Vibes Underground portion of the Rock Box for two reasons:
The band is made up of only two members (singer/guitarist Fynn Grabke and drummer Philipp Mirtschink)
The drums are devoid of cymbals
Touring in support of 2019’s The Hands of Time, which includes a guest appearance by Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders, the German duo sizzled on their first visit to the Alamo City, exhibiting a bombastic nature more telling than some trios and quartets as shown via ATM Facebook Live footage of “Electric Nights.”
Despite the Friday night vibe, British Lion’s 90-minute set ended at 11 p.m., paving the way for an early start to a meet-and-greet with Harris. The bassist came out 63 minutes later after it was announced he would sign two items per person. The picture taking and subsequent signings were rushed along as the band was preparing to head to Dallas in the middle of the night. But not before albums, shirts, arms that would be tattooed the next day, and the instrument of Iron Maiden local tribute Seventh Son bassist Daniel Morrison were stamped with Harris’ Sharpie penmanship.
Contributing to the humorous portion of the after party was a couple being rushed through the line, with the woman frantically telling her retreating better half to hurry up and take her pic with Harris. The man came back to the line, took out his phone and said, “Well, I didn’t know you wanted one” before telling the band’s tour manager, “She was all about the singer.” The woman replied, “Ooh, yeah, he’s sexy.” As her pic with Harris became a moment to treasure forever, she looked at the man no one else in the venue viewed as an afterthought and assured him, “Oh, you are too.”
Such is the life of mega rock stars playing in bars.
