Contest winner Adam meets the band

7/5/2009 11:42:00 AM | DEFLEPPARD.com

Out of the 10 contest winners of our DefLeppard/YouTube contest (see this post), Adam Klimas from Manahawkin, NJ was the first one to collect his prize (two tickets, a backstage tour and meeting with the band) when he went to the band's show in Scranton, PA on June 28. Here's his report.

"Words..... The one thing I really don't have right now. I've spent the better part of 28 (of my 38) years wondering what the words would be if I ever had the opportunity to meet my idols and there they were, but the 28 years of words were gone. This was Def Leppard! THE Def Leppard, you know, the same Def Leppard that essentially wrote the soundtrack to my life. The same Def Leppard whose music can be attributed to some of my most important memories. The same Def Leppard that overcame insurmountable odds to make some of the greatest and best-selling albums in the history of rock music. What do I say? How do I act? What should I have been wearing? I'm only getting one shot at this....Will I screw it up? All of a sudden I was 12 years old all over again. Whew....Just keep it together!!!"

"It was late May when I recieved the email from DefLeppard.com, announcing their lip-synch/air-guitar contest and I immediately asked my friend Tracy what she thought. "Do it! You're the best air-guitarist I know...What have you got to lose?". Nothing..... I had nothing to lose but, I had everything to gain. Even if I don't win they'll have seen my video, right? But then what if I do? Lights, Camera, Action! My first choice was "ANIMAL," but in the end I selected "PAPER SUN" because it had some amazing guitar work in it. It took me about a half-hour to film and about a day to actually figure out how to get the video on the computer (what a nightmare!). I was pretty proud of myself, I took a chance for something I cared about and, regardless of the outcome, it was worth it, after all, I'm a fan....This is what I do."

"The web site stated: Contestants will be notified by June 19th.. Well, the 19th came and went and no email. Oh well....at least I have those 'I Love All Access' tickets for the 23rd in Camden. It was fun, I would do it again in a heartbeat but now it's time to move on. See you in Camden, then!"

"On the 22nd, I spent the morning cleaning the house. Since I was alone, I plugged in my iPod and cranked the stereo. It was a good day for tunes.... Around noon, I had to start getting ready for work, but I decided to check my email before heading upstairs to change. At that moment (which still is one of the most unbelieveable coincidences, or interventions depending on your beliefs, I have ever encountered) my iPod randomly shuffled to "PAPER SUN". Oh.....there's an email from the Def Leppard site. Probably a thank you for submitting generic type thing, let's check it out. 'We are happy to inform you that your entry is one of the 10 final winners. Congratulations!' Wait! What! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I must be in semi-decent shape because if that shock didn't kill me, I don't know what could. My heart started beating FAST and my breathing increased. Maybe I should have waited but, I called my wife. Her response: "Honey, what's wrong? Are you okay? You're scaring me?". I finally managed to get the words out and those words were, I WON!! Def Leppard, my idols, the purveyors of my life's soundtrack, the greatest band in the world, had picked ME! It was at that moment that I realized what this actually meant: after 28 years of listening, learning, collecting, tattooing, and flat out loving, I was going to get to meet these 5 wonderful people. Words.........I better find some quick."

"June 28: Scranton, PA. Following instructions, I met up with crew member Matt, who took me to the sound board in the center of the pavilion and he preceded to tell about what an amazing night I was going to have. I introduced him to my wife, Jennifer and we headed backstage. "WOW! That's Robin Zander of Cheap Trick, there's CC Deville from Poison, Oh my god is that Joe Elliott!!". I was introduced to most of Def Leppard's crew, who are quite possibly the coolest bunch of dudes around, sitting down and having a beer with those guys would probably be a real sweet time. Next thing I knew, I was face to face with Malvin Mortimer, the band's tour manager. I was awestruck, more so by the fact that he knew MY name and it was just so amazing to meet this member of the Def Leppard family. The next stop was backstage - there was Rick Allen's drum kit, Phil's guitars, the set list, Bret Michaels' mic stand, Sav's bass, Cheap Trick's stage set-up. At this point Matt, my wife and I were standing centerstage looking out into the (now shuffling in) crowd. Time to move on."

"Wait! Is that....? Oh my goodness, Phil Collen coming my way. What an honor! The man is as fit as an olympic athlete, I felt so out of shape just standing next to him. He thanked me for being here (thanked me? WHAT!!!) and hoped I was enjoying myself. I shook his hand, asked him for an autograph (I didn't want to be one of those people, but when will this opportunity EVER present itself again?). We walked around the corner and there was Vivian Campbell. "Is this Adam?" he asked. 'He knows my name!' was shouting over and over in my head. I shook his hand, introduced my wife and got a few minutes to chat with him. What a nice person, great smile, amazing personality. We took a picture, he signed my record and at that moment I heard someone talking behind me. I turned around and was face to face with Rick Allen. THE Rick Allen.... You know, the one who took an almost unrecoverable personal tragedy and triumphed to become on of the greatest drummers of our (or any) generation. Another amazing individual, another genuinely nice person. And hey, there's Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick! He handed me some guitar picks and said "It's nice to meet you". No, Mr. Nielsen it's MY honor to meet you! At this point it was time for me to head to our seats. Cheap Trick was scheduled to come on at 7 and we didn't want to miss them. Matt asked for our seat numbers and says "I'll be back to get you later".

"At 8:30 PM, Poison was in the middle of their set and Matt signaled us to come with him. We were being led backstage once again, only this time there was a band actually up there playing. Rick Allen was waiting for us at the side of the stage and I spent the rest of Poison's set watching from the side of the stage with Rick. It was amazing that I hadn't yet cried but I was holding it together well. I took some more pictures and then Poison's set ended. I watched as the stage hands broke down their set and prep for Def Leppard. Matt signaled me to come with him and next thing I knew we were onstage in front of thousands of screaming fans. Matt got in front of the mic and introduced me to the crowd, and we threw some shirts to them. I went up to the mic and said the first thing that popped into my head "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" Words, Where were they??"

"At this point Def Leppard was minutes away from hitting the stage and it appeared that I wouldn't get to meet Sav and Joe. I asked Matt if he could do me one last favor. "Sure" he said. "Just tell Joe thank you for me, his voice has been the voice of my soul for 28 years and I just want him to know how much I appreciate it". "Hold on" said Matt. I saw him whisper something to Malvin and Mr. Mortimer headed off. "Just wait a minute and you can tell him yourself," This is it. Joe Elliott, the man, the voice. He walked in the tent and I was immediately taken aback. I shook his hand and called him "Mr. Elliott" in which he immediately prompted me to just call him Joe. He told me how I did a great job with the video and how he loved the song choice. Matt said "You wanted to tell him something, Adam?". Words..... Words..... Words..... 28 years, here I am in the presence of greatness and BOOM! I was blank. "Thank you sir, for 28 years Def Leppard has been the soundtrack of my life and your voice has been a huge part of that. For that I cannot thank you enough". He thanked me, I asked him to sign my record and immediately apologized for being one of those "sign this" people. We took a picture and headed out to the stage. This is when we finally headed back to our seats. We thanked Matt again, bid farewell and proceeded to witness yet another amazing Def Leppard performance."

"It was during the ride home that the emotions start to overwhelm me. I began to cry just out of sheer joy. These are my idols, my boys, my mood, the voice of my soul. I shook their hands and said my piece. I enjoyed a night of great music and unforgettable experiences. Thank you to Matt, Malvin, Mark at DefLeppard.com and the rest of the Def Leppard crew for an amazing night and thank you to the members of Def Leppard for choosing me to be one of a very few people to have this experience. I will never forget it and cherish it forever. The evening was above and beyond what I ever could have possibly expected and your hospitality will stay with me forever. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. LET'S GET ROCKED!"