A FIVE-YEAR-OLD Belfast boy got to live his rock’n’roll dreams for this week after taking to the stage with the Foo Fighters in Northern Ireland.
Taylor Hooper had the time of his life at Belfast’s Vital concert on Monday (August 19) after being invited onstage by frontman and Nirvana legend Dave Grohl.
Taylor’s mum, Nikki Hooper, and her husband are both huge fans of the Foo Fighters and could think of no better way to mark their son’s first experience of a live concert than with the Foos.
"He's been listening to them since he was born - mainly because me and his dad are massive fans," Hooper told the BBC.
Our Taylor's first ever gig. Thank you to @foofighters and to all the staff & crowd. You are all so amazing. Insanely proud of our wee rockstar. Life long memories made at Vital Belfast last night 😜🤘🤘😍 pic.twitter.com/AUDEPlOzVL
— Nikki Hooper (@nikhoop2403) August 20, 2019
Kitted out in special noise-reducing headphones, Taylor - who is actually named after the band’s drummer Taylor Hawkins - even made a special poster announcing that he was five and this was his first concert.
Encouraged to move to the front of the gig so he could get the best possible experience, it wasn’t long before the young Belfast rocker caught the eye of Grohl, who urged him to come up on stage.
"The crowd then started shouting 'up on stage', and Dave said 'bring the wee dude up here' and that's exactly what happened,” Hooper explained to the BBC.
Demonstrating nerves of steel, Taylor took to the stage at Boucher Road Playing Fields, showing off some impressive dance moves while the Foo Fighters played All My Life.
The amazing moment the @foofighters invite 5 year old Belfast fan Taylor up on stage, his first ever concert, and he absolutely killed it!!!! 🎶🙌🙌🙌👇 @BelfastVital #CoolSaturdayShow pic.twitter.com/qPeW2pco4s
— Stuart Robinson (@stuartrobinson1) August 19, 2019
It was met with the approval of Grohl who yelled “Alright, kid, let me see those moves!” while the Northern Irish crowd showed their appreciation.
The footage went down well online too, with one fan filming the performance and putting the clip on Twitter.
The Foos were evidently impressed, retweeting the clip as a show of their approval.
Not bad for a Northern Irish lad’s first live music experience.
