Since releasing the album Awake, it has been a whirlwind time for Tony Moore. With his connection to Iron Maiden as their only official keyboard player, as well as a long-time friendship with Steve Harris, Tony has taken his Awake show around the world with British Lion. His recent slot at Eddest at Knebworth House was a prestigious stop on a storied journey.
“Well, that was a dream come true, actually,” Tony Moore told MetalTalk editor Steve Ritchie, “and kind of a circle completed after almost 50 years. It was obviously amazing weather, and to get to open for the festival, even though the audience wasn’t as massive as it got later in the day, was special.
“It was a great crowd, and so many people in the audience were singing along with the songs. It didn’t surprise me. It pleased me. But I didn’t realise that so many people had probably seen and heard these songs before, and there was a very dedicated first to the barrier.”
There were logistical issues getting into Knebworth on both days. “To some degree that’s the nature of festivals,” Tony says. “I like to think Eddfest is gonna be a regular occurrence. I think Iron Maiden have created a really unique take on a festival, and just like Ozzfest ran for a while and there was the Kiss Cruise, I think Maiden could do a regular festival. I think they could do Edfest every year, even if they don’t play every year. But the whole experience was fantastic.”
Steve Harris was there for all the bands on Friday. “I see Steve all the time on the bus,” Tony said of touring with British Lion. He came down to the Maidenville stage and watched everyone’s performance. He had kind of curated it, but he didn’t just create it and then just stay in the bar. He came down for everybody’s set.
“Halfway through my show, I look over to the side, and there he is, thumbs up, big smile on his face, as he always does for my shows. But it was great. That must have been quite an interesting thing to see for Steve: Blaze Bayley doing Blaze-era Maiden stuff that I guess Maiden aren’t doing now. But it was a wonderful day.”
The reception to the Awake album has been special. “I feel very blessed that people really like what I do,” Tony says, “even though it’s Heavy Metal. It’s something a little bit more proggy and a little bit wider. It has its rocky moments.
“I’ve really been embraced by the Maiden community, so much so that it really touches me. When I wrote this and created it and began the journey, we were in a lockdown. I had no idea I’d ever be able to perform it. But here we are, three or four years later, and with Steve’s mentoring, blessing, support and help, I’ve been able to reach some audiences all around the world. I am so grateful. Steve’s been a great friend and a great inspiration for part of this journey and helped me reach more people.
“Now my mission is to take it to more people and see how I can break outside of the Maiden box a little bit and build a wider audience. That’s just gonna be hard work, right? Gig, gig, gig.”
Crazy In The Shed was recently released as a new single, with a wonderfully wacky video. In an earlier interview, we covered how, when writing Awake, Tony was often in conversation with Steve and told him how the writing process was making him go crazy in his shed. Harris told him that should be the title of his next song.
“I went back to the shed, and I wrote it,” Tony smiles. “I stayed up till 6 in the morning, coming up with something that actually, in the narrative of the album and show, brings a little something a little bit lighter to what has been quite a dark and intense period leading up to it.”
Tony Moore looks to have had great fun making the video. I love the little monkey with the symbols on the piano, and who is that guy who keeps popping in the doorway at the back?
“That will be me,” Tony smiles. “There was a lot of green screen going on making this. I made it all in the front room in my flat. I had a little bit of green screen, and a lot of time on my hands to work on that.”
Tony Moore is now on his way back to North America for four shows around the Iron Maiden tour. On Wednesday 26 August, he plays the Bank Art House in Welland, near Niagara Falls, on what he describes as a “beautiful stage.”
28 August, he will be at the Rivoli in Toronto the night before Iron Maiden play the city. 2 September finds Tony at La Sotterenea in Montreal, before he drops down to Brooklyn to play a show at The Wood Shop before Iron Maiden play New Jersey. “I’m hoping that lots of Maiden fans are gonna be in town early for the Maiden shows, who will come along, support and see Awake,” Tony says.
With the stage setup he uses, including guitar changes and a visual backdrop, he has what I can only describe as a genius solution to playing Awake live across the world.
“My gear’s already there,” Tony says. “I’ve planned ahead for lots of things. So in upstate New York, one of my dearest friends, Patty, has in her basement my entire show. I did that about two years ago, realising that trying to get gear to America would be a challenge.
“So I’ve duplicated everything. There are about seven guitars there, but five guitars for the show. There’s a projector, there’s a screen, there’s a keyboard. I even have a PA and some lights, so I can do a show anywhere at any time.
“We will be driving from upstate New York to the Niagara area, which is about a 5-hour drive, doing the show there, then driving up to Toronto, which is a couple of hours, and then up to Montreal, which is 4 or 5 hours, then back down to New York. It’s gonna be quite an adventure and a nice little road trip.”
This is not the only Awake setup that is stored around the world. “I did a European tour in June, and I took a whole set of gear to Italy where my friends have a winery, and I left it there,” Tony says. “So I have an entire show just outside Milan. If I need to do something quickly and easily, I can just fly into Milan on Ryanair with a backpack, and everything’s waiting for me.
“There’s a third set of gear in the Bahamas, in Nassau. I went over and opened for the British Lion in Nassau in April this year. Because Nassau’s a little tricky to get everything over there, Steve had organised a container to go over with all the British Lion gear and some others. I put another duplicate set of gear in the container.
“So again, I just went with a backpack, arrived there, and we did an amazing, fantastic gig there. People loved British Lion and what Steve did. I’ve left all my gear there cause I plan to try and go back at some point. I mean, it’s nice to have everything there.”
The social media photos of Tony and British Lion in Nassau looked wonderful, and it seems a fantastic place to visit. “It’s a wonderful island,” Tony says. “It has a great energy over there, and I was, again, very blessed to be part of the British Lion and Steve Harris world, and to be included on these things.
“We’ve done two UK tours now, we’ve done some European shows, we’ve been to Australia, Japan, North and South America. There’s not much left to do now. But I think in 2027, we know that Maiden are taking a year off, so I suspect there will be a lot more British Lion activity through 2027, any of which I will be very grateful and happy to be a part of.”
Tony Moore has one UK show booked, on 10 October at the Miners Institute in Blackwood. “A beautiful venue,” he says, “and I think that’s gonna be a lot of fun. I’m starting to try and put in dates around it, so just keep an eye on the website, awakemusic.info or TonyMooreMusic.com.”
The process for Awake has not been completed, and as a touring concept, Tony feels he has not even scratched the surface of the potential audience that is out there yet.
“So my mission is to try and raise the profile of Awake,” he says, “which I think is gonna be running at least for the next three, four, five years to really bed in the show. As you can imagine, trying to plan tours as an independent artist is hard.
“I try to update the show all the time. For Knebworth, I added new footage. I had a big thing at the back saying ‘Hello Knebworth’, which got a big cheer when it came up. I update the footage a little every couple of months, since many people have seen it and like to see something new. And sometimes because I just feel that there are moments in the show that I could illustrate a little bit better with a little bit more attention to detail. So, all of that takes a lot of time.”
Tony Moore released the single I Wish It Was the ’80s in 2025, which was a one-off, showing Tony’s creative spark is still there. “I don’t think I’m ever gonna do anything like Awake again because it was such a moment in time. We were locked down. I had nowhere to go. I had theoretically 24 hours a day if I chose not to sleep, just to work on music.
“So I managed to cram probably six months of work into two months because that’s all I was doing. I think that was both a creative period and a time-allowing period where I could do that.
“To do something similar on that kind of scale? Never say never, right? My instinct is to build Awake to the point where wherever I go in the world, people know about it. Hence, releasing Crazy In The Shed as a single.
“It’s a tough world out there. I’m under no illusions that everything’s just gonna come tumbling into my lap. I know this requires a ton of hard work, and just to keep smashing away at letting people know what I’m doing. But every day I wake up doing the thing that I love, and for me, whatever level that is, that’s success.”
Always busy, Tony Moore is channelling his creative instincts through a new band, K2. “I came on board a few months ago,” he says. “I’ve already contributed a couple of tunes to the project. We didn’t have a bass player, and my really good friend Omer Khan is not only a sensational guitarist, having just released his own instrumental rock album that has flavours of Steve Vai/Satriani about it, but when I go on tour, he’s my live sound engineer. He’s got such great ears. So we have a lot of fun together on the road. He has come on board as the bass player.
“That’s a fun thing to do. Awake is a one-man show, and I love the continuity of a one-man show. I know that every single night, all the things that I need to hear in the right place will always be in the right place.
“Working with a band is a completely different dynamic, which I also love. We’re now working with tempos that move, moments of inspiration that come out of the blue. It’s a great band.”
Another recent project occurred when a photographer friend recommended Tony for a cruise from Liverpool to Norway to photograph the Northern Lights. “I realised that, of course, most of the people had no idea who I was or why I was there,” Tony says. “They hadn’t bought a cruise to come and see me particularly, so I decided to do a mix and match. I did about half an hour’s worth of Awake music, and then did some of my favourite covers, but in the Awake style with videos.
“I put together a one-hour show, which I did twice on the ship.” Two shows a day for 500 people at each show. “People loved it,” Tony says. “I still have lots of passengers following me and coming to shows. I had a great time, and I met some people who became friends.”
With a recommendation from someone in the industry on how to pitch for cruise shows, Tony has constructed two 45-minute sets. “I call it Tony Moore’s Stardust Memories. It is all of the artists that influenced me when I was a kid and thus influenced Awake. It’s like the origin story of Awake.
“I did the first performance of it all a couple of weeks ago at a very nice venue with a beautiful video wall so I could film it and create a little show reel. I got amazing feedback, considering I had never done this show as it is before. One guy said to me that he had been coming to the venue for years, and it’s the best thing he’s ever seen there. Wow. That is such a compliment. So I know I’ve created something that’s nice, and for me it’s fun because I’m playing my favourite songs.”
But Awake is the main focus, and North America awaits again. With the success of Awake, you know that Tony Moore will continue to clock up the air miles, and you know that this success is well deserved.
