STEVE HARRIS' BRITISH LION: WORLD TOUR 2018 w. CONEY HATCH @ The Great Hall (Nov 1, 2018)

Nice to know that after 35 years, relationships can still thrive between bands, bandmates and the audience itself.

Last time both bands appeared together was in the summer of 1983 when the headliner Iron Maiden debut a new lead singer by the name of Bruce Dickinson at Canada’s Wonderland’s Kingswood Theatre.

Touring as the support act for Iron Maiden, Coney Hatch made a lasting impression and friendship with Maiden’s Steve Harris.

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Flash forward 35 years later, with Steve Harris’ British Lion’s first visit to Canada, Harris rang up Coney Hatch’s Andy Curran to bring the band together for a quick five city Canadian jaunt.

Formed in 1981, Coney Hatch quickly caught on with the emerging hard rock, heavy metal scene worldwide.

With popular well-received albums, starting with Kim Mitchell produced self-titled LP Coney Hatch (1982) Outa Hand (1983), Friction (1985) and 2013’s “Four” — there was a wealth of material to draw from for the faithful.

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Favourites such as “First Time for Everything“, “This Ain’t Love” and debut single “Hey Operator” were popular memories to many who were there in 1983.

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Closing out the hour set were “Devil’s Deck” and rock radio favourite “Monkey Bars”

As one of the New Wave of British Wave Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) acts, Iron Maiden lead the charge to world domination along with bands such as Def Leppard and Saxon.

Harris’ side project British Lion displays a different facet of metal, influenced by British acts such as UFO, Thin Lizzy and The Who.

Clearly, this was a labour of love & friendship for all involved, and the feeling was in full energetic display.

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With limited airplay in North America, it didn’t matter to the metal-hard rock faithful, as all in attendance were fully engaged and appreciative.

Flanked by singer Richard Taylor, Graham Leslie (guitarist), David Hawkins (guitarist) and drummer Simon Dawson, the band opened with “This Is My God”, “Lost Worlds” and “Father Lucifer”.

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