With the Iron Maiden 50th Anniversary Tour continuing, their former (and only) keyboard player Tony Moore is taking his Awake show into Europe again. Tonight (10 July 2025), he plays Gelsenkirchen in Wohnzimmer, with Bremen and Eindhoven to follow. Each show will take place the night before Iron Maiden’s performances in the same city.
Last year was a landmark year for Awake, as Tony Moore hit the road touring with Steve Harris and British Lion. “I left in August for Australia,” Tony Moore told MetalTalk earlier this year. “We did five cities in Australia. We did Auckland and New Zealand, then we went to Japan. We did Tokyo and Osaka and then flew to California. We arrived before we left because of the time zones.
“I think I’ve been through every time zone on the planet now. We did two fantastic shows in San Diego and LA that finished at the Whisky A Go Go, and then I stayed in America and did a few headline shows. I came back to the UK for a week and then went straight back and did South America, which was an education on how fans can take things to another level.”
The reception in South America was not just because of the British Lion/Iron Maiden connection. “The audiences were so passionate,” Tony said. “We started in Mexico, but when we got to Bogota, I was a little bit ill because of the altitude [2,640 above seal level]. The oxygen is less, so I was not feeling 100%.”
Fifty-five minutes as the support act for British Lion is the playing time that most support bands can only dream of, and Tony Moore travelled with a lot of gear. “We had a trailer on the back of the bus,” he says. “I had 15 cases. So, five guitars. I know it sounds excessive for a one-man show. But I had my main guitar. I had a backup guitar in case I broke a string. The whole show, there’s so much guitar. Then I had an acoustic guitar. I had a detuned guitar for one of the songs.”
For travelling the world, there had to be downsizing. “I had to work out how to condense 15 cases and five guitars into one suitcase and one guitar and a flight case to put in the hold,” Tony says. “It required a lot of thought. I had a tiny little keyboard with a little MIDI piano module on it. The songs that I do in the British Lion opening set it’s 55 minutes. So there are a few other songs in the show that I don’t do with Steve, which require a more piano-y performance.
“But the ones I was doing in the show are more chords in the in the middle section. It doesn’t require a massive keyboard. I took my projector and screen because most of the venues wouldn’t have a screen, and my stage clothes were all in that. My travelling clothes were in my backpack, which was really just a ton of Primark socks and pants and some black T-shirts.
“Then, a laptop bag with my show laptop, which doubled as my stay-in-touch with the world laptop. It was a lot of thought to be able to condense.”
Was Tony Moore nervous or just jet lagged for that first Perth show with British Lion? “I was thrilled and excited. It’s interesting to start in Australia because everyone speaks English. So, although I do speak reasonably good conversational Spanish, for these shows, it was nice to start in a country where I didn’t have to think about what we were saying as well.
“The most nerve-wracking part was thinking, will it all work? I had done a few test runs, but I’d never quite done the whole show with just the gear that I had with me. But it was perfect. It went brilliantly. I got some amazing responses, some fantastic reviews. The press have been very kind to me and British Lion, as they should. Because British Lion are an amazing band.
“But whenever they review the night and then review my part of the show, they’ve always been very kind. They actually saw what I’m doing and were able to put that into words for people to read that makes some sense. For me, sometimes it’s hard to describe. It’s hard to stand outside of me and describe it as somebody taking it for the first time.”
Tony Moore makes a really good point. I was following online some of the things that were happening and he did have lots of column inches as well.
“I was very touched,” Tony says. “I think I’ve been a really good support act in the truest sense of the word in that I went out, I made a connection with the audience and created a great vibe ready for British Lion. I was completely different, and nobody knew what to expect. But at the end of it, everyone was in a good space. That’s what you want from a support act isn’t it?
“You want someone that can add value to your show, that isn’t necessarily in competition with what you do, sonically, and you can get on with. We all got on so well. I travelled as if I was part of British Lion; I was treated as one of the band. I shared a room with Dave Hawkins on tour and have become great, great roomies over the last few months.”
Washing your socks in the sink? “I bought enough socks I could throw them away,” Tony smiles. “I was very rock ‘n’ roll, but I did take a little tube of clothes washing liquid, just in case I had to do some emergency sock washing.
“I did a little bit in Japan. Here’s the interesting thing about Japan. One of the most amazing things is the toilets. So, for anyone who’s not experienced the Japanese toilet, it sounds kind of weird. But you walk in, and it’s like it’s a machine. The lid will automatically open when the infrareds in some of the places realise someone’s walked in. All the seats wherever you go are heated. You can go in a bar, a restaurant, heated seats, right? Then you’ve got a little control panel.
“One of the problems with English is this is all in Japanese. So you don’t know what all the buttons do. Now, some of the buttons will give you a surprise. A jet of water will appear that you weren’t expecting. But some of the buttons are flush, right? You’ve got to work out which is the flush. If you stand up and press the wrong button, you’ll be washing the ceiling. So that was fun.”
In Australia, they played Perth and then went to Adelaide. That’s over 1,300 miles between venues three days later. You don’t realise how big Australia is just watching Neighbours.
“There’s two time zones in Australia at least,” Tony Moore says. “They were long flights. Adelaide was fantastic. We had a day off. We went down to the sea. They call it the Great Bite because it looks like some giant shark is taking a bite out of Australia. But the sea was pretty wild. We went on a long pier, but it was a very, very vibey place.”
I was thinking it had to be a little bit regimented. You do the Perth show, you’ve got set up in time, you’ve got to be ready to play, you got to get off in stage in time. You’ve got to get your stuff packed away. You have to get to the airport, and then you rinse and repeat.
“You have to have a system,” Tony says. “In order to both make the shows run as smoothly as possible and so everyone knows where they are and what they’re doing. There were a few shows where there were some challenges in the venues. Some of the stage boxes weren’t wired up correctly, which meant the British Lion took much longer to do the sound check. This meant that, in some instances, I was finishing my sound check as they were opening the doors. It’s fine. That’s rock ‘n’ roll. I’m lucky to even have a sound check. There are supports that don’t get a sound check.”
The system was efficient, helped by Doug Dalton and his wife in Australia, who Tony says did a great job. “They were there with us all the way,” he says. “They travelled to the gigs with us. They worked really hard. They really put the extra mile in.”
Tony and British Lion had some downtime in Australia and New Zealand, “We stayed at a little motel right on the beach, and it was beautiful,” Tony Moore says. “We could take a long walk along the beach to get into town and have some breakfast.
Tony Moore had been to Japan three times before. “I always felt a little uncomfortable because the last time I was there was ’94, and most of the signs were just in Japanese script. So even if you know the name of something as it’s pronounced, you could never guess it from a weird squiggle or something. I didn’t know where I was sometimes.
“This time, there was great English signage, which really helped and lots of people to help you. Like at the subway, it was usually a girl with a little clipboard helping you get your ticket and explaining stuff to you. I found Japan to be very cheap as well. The last time I was there, it was very expensive, but for some reason, in relation to the UK and especially America, it was quite cheap.
“Very clean, very safe, and the venues were fantastic. Great stages, great PAs. I was using the house engineer wherever we went and the house lighting guy. They were all fantastic for me, which was not a worry, but it was just a thought at the back of my head that I was relying on people who’ve never heard the music and I’ve never met before. I need them to go the extra little bit to get the best out of what I’m doing.”
America followed, including the Whisky A Go Go. “They had my name up there,” Tony says. “British Lion and Tony Moore on the marquee run. This is such an iconic venue. Everyone’s played there. Through the early ’80s, all the early hair rock bands. Guns’ n Roses and everybody started at the Whisky. This was such an iconic place to play. I loved being there.”
Now it is back to the full Awake shows. Earlier this year, a Romford show was attended by Steve Harris. “He came to see and support the show,” Tony says. “It was a fantastic night. I brought my own PA and lights and stuff. So it was quite an intense setup because normally, I just put my bit up and go, right? I have to do everything. But I have a few engineers I work with who know my show really well, and we have a lot of fun doing it. I’m very safe in their hands. That was a great show.”
A show in Tenterden was a stand out, particularly for the owner. “Big stage, great PA system,” Tony Moore says. “The owner, a guy called Sean, said, I’m really looking forward to the show tonight. We want to do more original stuff. They have a lot of cover bands that come through for events and parties, but they want to be a more original venue and encourage original music. There isn’t much competition in the area.
“I have to say, this is a well-set-up gig. It’s easy to get into, it’s pretty easy to load in. It’s a great-sounding room. At the end of the night, he very sweetly came up to me and said, this is the best show we’ve ever had and the best sound they ever had here.
“So, little things like that mean a lot, right? My show is a lot to ingest in one listening. There are a lot of levels to it and layers to it. It’s 17 songs that people have never heard before. So to have that kind of response really is quite wonderful.”
There was one social media video that Tony shared late last year. After everything with British Lion, he was talking about his plans for 2025. He seems quite pensive, maybe with a little tear in his eye, maybe thinking about his late mother because that is obviously a big part of Awake. I tell Tony she would have been proud of everything he achieved last year.
“She absolutely would thank you for saying that,” Tony says. “In South America, every time she came on the screen behind me, because she’s in the show, either in video or in a photo, they cheered and clapped. They understood the connection.
“Awake is, in a weird way, the most open and accessible self-indulgent show you can imagine because I’m just doing the things that I love to do. I’m writing and performing the kind of music that I’ve never quite been able to do. I’m putting it together with visuals that I would never have been able to do when I was a kid.
“I’m including moments in my life’s journey, and I’m dedicating it to my mum, who was my biggest supporter. There are a number of songs about her and that she features in. So, every night, it’s quite emotional for me. Physically, it’s not a difficult show. There are no notes that I can’t sing easily. There are no things that I can’t play pretty easily, although I do make the odd mistake or two like everyone.
“It’s not physically demanding, but it is emotionally demanding. So by the end of every gig, I am absolutely drained.”
There are plenty of people who have seen Tony Moore perform his Awake shows, and he is very proud and thankful for that.
Steve Harris has been very supportive, too. “He’s kind of executive producer of the album,” Tony says, “because I ran all the music past him as I was recording it. But he also loves the show. He watched every single show where he could [on tour]. That was really special. He’s my mate, and I’m blessed that he’s been able to support me. But I’m doubly blessed that he loves it so much that he wants to watch it.”
Steve saw the whole Awake show at The Camden Club. “He came up to me afterwards and said, ‘I was blown away’. He said, ‘I had goosebumps and it was very emotional.’ For me, that was just such a personal achievement.
“We’ve both been making music for a long time. Obviously, Maiden have conquered the world many times. So for my old mate Steve, who I knew when we were pretty much kids, teenagers, to then come and see my show and to understand it and be Impressed and to love it so much, really was a massive compliment.”
Tony Moore – Awake In Europe:
July 10 Gelsenkirchen – Wohnzimmer
July 14 Bremen – Lila Eule
July 22 Eindhoven/Arnhem – Cafe the Jack (FREE SHOW!)
