British Lion will tour the UK in January 2023 with special guests Coney Hatch, who were Iron Maiden support on the Piece of Mind tour in ’83, and Airforce, who feature former Iron Maiden drummer Doug Sampson.
“We’re excited to be touring the UK again,” Steve Harris said, “especially as we’ll be visiting many places we’ve not had a chance to play before. It’s fantastic that we’ve got long-time friends Coney Hatch coming over from Canada to join us. We had great fun when they were our special guests on the British Lion Canadian shows in 2018.”
In an earlier interview with MetalTalk, Andy Curran explained how that 2018 tour came about. “He [Harris] called me to invite Coney Hatch out to be special guests on the British Lion dates,” Curran said. “He said let’s do it up like old times. It was a blast. Steve Harris is legit a Coney fan and would watch our set most nights side stage. It was really flattering to see that.”
Airforce, who played on the British Lion late 2021 tour, will also feature. “We’re happy to have our old mates Airforce back out on the road with us too,” Harris said. “Everyone is really looking forward to this tour, and we can’t wait to see everyone.”
The tour will be Coney Hatch’s first UK tour. They did play a couple of one-off shows at Nottingham Firefest in 2011 and 2014. They have a live album, Postcard From Germany, due soon.
Coney Hatch toured with Iron Maiden in 1983 on their Piece Of Mind tour. “That was an incredible tour to be on,” Andy Curran told MetalTalk. “Maiden were peaking at that time, and they treated us so well. I think we played 30+ shows with them and became fast friends, with lots of extracurricular social hanging after the shows. Days off, tennis games, drinking late into the night. Silly British humour, fun stuff.
“I love those guys and still hang with them when they come to Toronto. For the very last show we did on the [’83] date, we had planned to pie them on stage during their set. Our road manager warned us not to, so we left the pies in our dressing room, and when we took to the stage, the Maiden guys found the pies and ended up assaulting us on stage with our own pies…filled with cat food. It backfired on us big time!”
The Coney Hatch lineup for the tour features three members of the original 1980s lineup – bass player and vocalist Andy Curran, lead vocalist and guitarist Carl Dixon, and drummer Dave Ketchum, along with guitarist Sean Kelly, who joined the band in 2018.
Also, arriving soon will be a live album, Postcard From Germany. “We’re very excited and grateful that after all these years, we’re still getting along and releasing new songs,” Curran says. “We’re a brotherhood, and this new live record totally captures the spirit of Coney Hatch live. In-your-face double guitar attack! Also, two spankin’ new songs to boot! That’s a pretty cool thing for our fans.”
British Lion tickets are available now from https://britishlionuk.com/tour/.
Prior to joining British Lion in the UK, Coney Hatch will play their only Canadian show at the legendary El Mocambo in Toronto on December 29, 2022.
This performance will celebrate the 40th Anniversary of their self-titled debut record, and the band will perform their first record in its entirety. Tickets will go on sale next week at https://elmocambo.com/events-new.
