A TRIBUTE artist got to live the dream as he climbed on stage with the real deal.

As American megastars Foo Fighters put on a rare intimate performance at Brighton’s Concorde 2 on Wednesday night, tribute act the UK Foo Fighters were in the audience.

As Foo Fighters geared up to perform hard-rock hit White Limo lead singer Dave Grohl unexpectedly invited his doppelganger Jay Apperley on to the stage.

The musician from Harrogate in Yorkshire, who formed the UK Foo Fighters eight years ago, said the night felt like a “dream come true”.

He said: “I have had dreams about it. I always thought maybe one day, knowing how great he is, Dave would let me step up on stage with them? I thought it was just a pipe dream.”

The UK Foo Fighters are made up of Mr Apperley as Grohl, Alex Bailey as drummer Taylor Hawkins, Jamie Valentine as guitarist Chris Shiflett, and Arron Warner as bassist Nate Mendel.

He added: “The worst thing for me throughout the whole experience was waiting to see which song he started playing.

“Although I know how to play and sing 35 Foo Fighters songs when he said to me ‘right you, I want to see what you got’ I was bricking it.

“I was worrying which song and then when I started playing White Limo I thought ‘yes’ as we opened with that song every night on our last tour.

“The hardest bit was not knowing what to do with my hands – I am used to having a guitar hung around my neck so I started playing air guitar.

“The bit after the solo when you do the long scream I noticed Dave missed the last few notes as he was telling me to get back on the mic – I was like, just relax, I know when to come back in.

“I still don’t believe it. I’m hoping it was as good for those guys as it was for me.”

Earlier in the night Mr Apperley had sent the band a present – three crates of Monkey Wrench ale, the official beer of the UK Foo Fighters.

Mr Apperley told how the UK Foo Fighters were a “reluctant” tribute band – giving into pressure after they put Foos songs into their covers set.

He also said a thank you to all the fans who have supported them, as well as the Foo Fighters themselves and Concorde 2. On September 27 UK Foo Fighters will perform at Concorde 2.

They promise to recreate the Foos’ 2007 Radio One performance at the venue, and have even extended an invite to DJ Chris Moyles.