Lauren Harris preview

Lauren Harris
Allstate Arena, Rosemont
Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Opening a tour for Iron Maiden ain’t easy. It might not be as stressful as facing 30 minutes of continous (occasionally life-threatening) “SLAYEEEER!” screams, but tough nonetheless. Most Maiden fans, after all, don’t buy their concert tickets with discovering young, opening talent in mind. They want “The Trooper.” Take Bullet For My Valentine, for example. They opened for Maiden during an ’06 American trek and weren’t exactly treated hospitably by the headliner’s fans, said drummer Michael Thomas in an interview with Dose.ca. Thomas specifically cited a gig in Quebec City where he and his bandmates heard 15,000 fans chant “Maiden” through their whole set. “They weren’t very nice,” he said.

Something tells us Lauren Harris, daughter of Maiden bassist/leader Steve Harris, is being treated better during her opening slot on the current Somewhere Back In Time tour. It’s hard to imagine many people giving her a rough time when her last name is so synonymous with heavy metal. It, the Harris name, demands respect. The same can’t be said about her debut album, Calm Before The Storm (Demolition/DR2), though, which is about generic and sterile as hard rock gets. “Like It Or Not” and “Come On Over” might be considered “edgy” and “hard-rockin'” on “American Idol,” but they aren’t by any Maiden fan worth his tattered Eddie T-shirt. The problem isn’t so much the person singing the songs – the 23-year-old has a strong enough voice to front a rock band – as it is the people writing the songs. This is generally a cast of four to five musicians (including producer/drummer Tom McWilliams and guitarist Richie Faulkner) who, together, manage to make Lighthouse sound fucking groundbreaking. These songs would have embarrassed Pat Benatar . . . in 1983!

Lauren’s bio emphasizes her “break” in the industry came as a result of talent and hard work (British producer Russ Ballard, apparently completely unaware she was the daughter of legend, saw her sing in a pub). Maybe. But Calm Before The Storm certainly doesn’t back the claim.

“MAIDEN! MAIDEN! MAIDEN!”

— Trevor Fisher

Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly