Horslips find imitation flatters

Horslips built up a loyal following back in the 1970s

A group of students who formed a tribute band to honour Irish musical legends Horslips have received the ultimate accolade.

The nine County Tyrone students, who reproduce the distinctive music of the 1970s Celtic rockers under the title 'Horslypse', have been invited to play with their heroes.

Horslips members, including veteran musician Barry Devlin, were so impressed after meeting the group at an exhibition in Drogheda that they offered to share a stage with them.

The lads leapt at the opportunity and the gig was scheduled for Omagh on Friday.

With the help of the tribute band, the original Horslips members have found they have acquired a whole new generation of fans.

They were all albums you could listen to from cover to cover and not lose concentration at any point, very fascinating Michael Rafferty Tribute band Horslypes

Michael Rafferty, Horslypse's 18-year-old keyboard player, said they got the idea of a tribute band from rummaging through his father's old vinyl record collection.

Speaking on BBC's Good Morning Ulster, Michael said: "It was an inheritance of several records from the garage.

"My father had all sorts of records. Horslips were one of many bands."

He said he and his friends were drawn to Horslips music because of its "link with Irish mythology".

The band reunited for the first time in 24 years

"Although the albums were conventional studio albums, there was a story that ran through most of them and I just thought it was very interesting," he said.

"They were all albums you could listen to from cover to cover and not lose concentration at any point, very fascinating."

Michael, a pupil at Omagh Christian Brothers Grammar School, said they decided to "try a one-off gig of Horslips music".

"It just worked. That was a year and a half ago and we are still here and now we are to play with the Horslips," he said

"There are not many tribute bands that get to play with people they copy.

"As far as tribute bands go, we have gone as far as anyone would like to go."

Some members of the group are at university so gigs have to be arranged around term holidays.

It's a bit scary for the original to find itself a pale imitation of a tribute band. We were kind of sitting in the audience going, 'so that's how it's done' Barry Devlin Horslips

Barry Devlin said he was "looking forward to jumping up on the stage and making a show of myself" at the Omagh performance.

Barry said he had been deeply impressed with Horslypse's version of Horslip's music played "by kids who were born long after we stopped".

"It's a bit scary for the original to find itself a pale imitation of a tribute band. We were kind of sitting in the audience going, 'so that's how it's done'." he joked.

"Discovering that, as they then were, a bunch of 16-year-olds, had actually blown the dust off the vinyl and done things we never done, for instance the album, the Book of Celtic Symphony, well, we have never actually played it in its entirety from start to finish.

"We were absolutely amazed when the lads started with the trumpet bit at the start and finished with the flute at the end and did all the bits in the middle."