Bill G. from Illinois was the winner of the Propeller experience to "Win a Trip To Meet Def Leppard & Journey in Denver" that took place in September 2024. Below are some of Bill's highlights from the experience.
Our experience began with a direct flight from Chicago to Denver. Denver's airport is pretty far away from downtown, but they have a very convenient train that takes you directly to the heart of Denver. We hopped on the train and were in downtown Denver in no time. A short Lyft ride and we were at our hotel – The Le Méridien Denver Downtown. We were immediately impressed with our accommodations. The hotel was beautiful and far nicer than what we are used to when traveling. After relaxing for a bit, we headed down to the hotel restaurant for dinner before we headed out to a place called Meow Wolf.
Meow Wolf is nearly impossible to describe. I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to say what we saw, but it's one of those things that you really just need to see for yourself. I think technically it's a modern art museum, but it's the furthest thing from a stuffy old building with loads of pictures on the wall. The ENTIRE place is art. It's full of seemingly 100's of connected rooms and hallways, each with different themes and vastly different art. You just never knew what you were going to encounter anytime you turned the corner. We had a ton of fun, exploring every area of the building, which took us about an hour and a half. It was getting close to 10:00pm, and we were tired from traveling earlier, so when we were done, we caught a Lyft back to hotel and went to bed.
The next day was show day! After we woke up, we walked to a nearby restaurant for a late breakfast. Afterwards, my wife went to a local church for Sunday mass and I went back to the hotel to relax and watch football (It was opening Sunday of the season). I admittedly fell asleep for a bit, but soon my wife came back and it was time to head over to Coors Field to meet Journey/Def Leppard and see the show. Once we got there, we checked in with the VIP folks and got our instructions for how the Def Leppard events would take place. It started with a tour of the stage. We were allowed to roam around and look at all the equipment and see what goes into making a major show like this go smoothly. They also had some of Def Leppard's guitars out on center stage to take pictures with which was a very nice touch.
Next it was time to find our day-of-show contacts and meet Journey. This took place in a small room past a door in the third base dugout. Right before we went in to meet Journey, I got really nervous. What do you say to a group of rockstars that have written some of the most iconic rock songs ever? It turned out that I didn't need to be nervous at all. The guys were all very nice and seemingly happy to meet us. We chatted for a bit and took a few pictures. Fist bumps all around and it was over.
After meeting Journey, we had about an hour until we had to come back to meet Def Leppard, so we got some food and watched Cheap Trick play. Soon it was time to head back to the third base dugout and get ready to meet Def Leppard. This was slightly different in that there were many other people who were also doing the meet and greet, which you could pay for as part of a ticket package. We got in line and it was quickly our turn to go back into the same little room and meet the band. Full disclosure, I'm a huge Def Leppard fan so I was about 10 times more nervous to meet them than I was with Journey, but once again, there was no need. They were all really friendly and definitely came across as just regular, down to Earth guys. Again, we took some pictures and chatted for a little bit. It was all over in what seemed like a heartbeat, but I'm sure it was longer than that. I'm not sure what else to say about it, other than I had just met two sets of huge rock n roll legends in a little over an hour. When else would I ever be able to do that? Thank you SO MUCH Propeller.
After all that excitement, it was time to go to our seats and enjoy the show. Did I mention that we had FRONT ROW seats!!! Wow! What a way to finish up the day. Both bands played all their hits and sounded so good. The crowd was super into it and everyone was having a great time. We didn't want the night to end, but eventually the show finished and we had to leave. It turned out to be a beautiful evening so we ended up just walking back to the hotel, which was only a little over a mile away. Lastly, to end the night, we ordered some Uber Eats and had a very late dinner and went to bed.
The next day it was time to head back to Chicago, but not before we made a quick stop at The Denver Cat Company to pet some cats. The Denver Cat Company is a cat café where you go and just hang out with cats that are available for adoption. If you've never been to a cat café, it's a great way to spend some time and the cost of entrance goes towards providing assistance to the cats as they wait to get adopted. Afterwards, it was time to get back on the train, and head back to the airport. And just like that, we were on a plane back to Chicago.
After all that, the highlight of the entire trip came was between the Journey and Def Leppard meet and greets. After checking in, we each got a bag with Def Leppard swag in it. One of those items was a fully signed Def Leppard 8 x 10 photo. This means that both my wife and I had a copy. Not needing two of them, my wife found a family in the stands who were all wearing Def Leppard t-shirts. It was a mom, dad, and a young boy. The boy was probably around 10 years old. My wife walked up to the boy, and asked him if he was a Def Leppard fan and what his favorite song is? He replied, "Pour Some Sugar on Me!" She then pulled out the autographed 8 x 10 and handed it to him. What was so great was the entire family's reaction, but especially the boy. He was so excited and couldn't believe what he was just given. You could tell that they were extremely appreciative and that the kid was going to treasure that picture for a long time to come. Just as quickly as we had walked up, we walked away, not needing any thanks. Just knowing how happy that made them was enough for us. We were lucky enough to have won this experience and we felt it was just a small way of sharing a little bit of the good vibes around.
We truly can't thank Propeller enough for everything. Aside from the once in a lifetime experience that they provided for us, their attention to detail and "customer service" was outstanding. Everything went perfectly and there was plenty of communication from the Propeller team during the weekend, insuring everything was going as planned. The only downside to the whole experience was that it had to end! Thanks again Propeller, for a weekend we will never forget!
- Bill G.
