The day Harrogate man took over from Dave Grohl and sang with the Foo Fighters
It may be the 10th anniversary year of the day he sang with Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters but a Harrogate man is celebrating it the only way he can – on the road.
It was in 2007 that Jay Apperley, then a manager at a Harrogate car dealer, first had the idea to create the UK Foo Fighters after winning popularity in the covers band Speedsta who had built up a following at the Blues Bar on Harrogate’s Montpellier Hill.
The talented and hard-working Jay built up his new band bit-by-bit.
But nothing could have prepared him for the moment 10 years ago in 2014 when he found himself on stage with Dave Grohl at a show in Brighton.
The date was September 10 and the location Concorde2 in Brighton.
After taking over lead vocals while Dave and the rest of the legendary rock band backed him, Jay told the press: "I always thought maybe one day, knowing how great he is, Dave would let me step up on stage.
"But I thought it was just a pipe dream.
“The worst thing for me throughout the whole experience was waiting to see which song he started playing.
“Then when he started playing White Limo I thought “yes” as we had opened with that song every night on tour.”
In a way it was payback. In Brighton to play a gig, themselves, Jay and the band had delivered the real Foo Fighters a present earlier in the day – three crates of Monkey Wrench ale from Harrogate’s Daleside Brewery.
Once Jay had finished his stint as the Foo Fighters’ frontman while Dave Grohl backed him on guitar, the rock legend gave his verdict – “that was awesome!”
Since that momentous night a decade ago, the UK Foo Fighters have gone from strength to strength becoming one of Britain's most in-demand tribute acts, though Jay isn't a fan of the term, personally.
Now headlining major venues across the country; they played the famousO2 Academy Brixton in April.
Last Sunday saw them on stage at the 1,000 capacity Tramshed in Cardiff.