A BUDDING musician from the county was invited to rock out on stage with his idols after a clip of him drumming along to a previous concert went viral.

Caleb Hayes from Silloth was captured by a fellow concert goer when the American heavy metal band performed at the Utilita Arena in Newcastle on January 17.

The video of the youngster was posted on Twitter shortly afterwards, and has racked up more than eight million views.

The clip also caught the eye of band member Jay Weinberg who was impressed with the five-year-old's skills.

It was then when the bands management team made contact with the family to invite them down as VIPs to their concert at the arena in Birmingham on Saturday.

Caleb's mum, Kim, said she has been overwhelmed with the positive response that the viral video has got.

She said: "My phone has been going off non-stop this week.

"At the gig, Caleb just got onto his dad's shoulders and started airdrumming as he does normally - we're quite used to seeing him do that.

"A guy who was sat near us recorded it and because Caleb was so in time with the beat of the drummer, he posted it on Twitter and it just went absolutely crazy.

"We were then invited by the band down to their gig in Birmingham as VIP guests for the day on Saturday, and Caleb went backstage, had a go on Jay Weinberg's drums, and was gifted with drumsticks and merchandise.

"Right at the end, they got him on the stage in front of about 15,000 fans, and he threw a set of drumsticks into the crowd. It's been such a surreal experience, Caleb has loved every minute of it."

After their weekend concert in the midlands, musician Jay took to social media to share the experience about their special guest.

He tweeted: "It was such a blast inviting young shredder Caleb to last night’s show in Birmingham.

"Ready to throw down on his new SJC custom drums, snare and Foundation double pedal."