Entering The Sweeps

I'm 56 years old, so I grew up in in the 80s and Sammy Hagar was a big part of our everyday life. Him also being one of the the lead singers for Van Halen for a while– Van Hagar was actually my most favorite part of Van Halen. We grew up listening to “Three Locked Box,” and The Red Rocker was part of our daily activities. 

So, one night I was just flipping through social media, quite honestly. And my wife had gone to bed, and I was bored and I was flipping through social media. I came across this ad, and I started reading it. I thought, “Wow, an opportunity to go to Cabo and meet Sammy on his birthday.” And I thought, “Well, what the heck, I'll give it a try.”

 

That Magical Winning Moment

I donated $50 for an opportunity, and then the Fandiem team reached out to me via email and I thought, “I don't know, this doesn't seem real, you know?” So I vetted it for quite a few hours and called my wife and I said, “I think this is legit. I think I won!”

I just, I couldn't believe it. So I had to do my homework and I connected with the team, and I asked, “Is this real?” Five minutes later I got a response: "Rob, this is real.” So that was pretty cool. I just couldn't believe it at first. I was just kind of in denial, I guess. When I realized it was real, then, boy, we were super excited! It felt almost too good to be true. 

Traveling to Cabo

I first called my wife and I said, "Hon, you're not gonna believe this, we're gonna go to Cabo.” And she goes, “I can't go to Cabo. I can't take time off.” Our daughter's getting married in February, so all of her time off has been spoken for it. So I said, “Well, I got to go to this thing. It's free, and I get to go meet Sammy.” So I invited my best friend and he and I went. As soon as we proved that we had our passports and everything was put together, they booked our flights. Obviously, I mean, our flights were flawless. United was great. We flew there. We had a layover, which was nice because I got to get out and stretch a little bit. And then the three hours to Cabo from California wasn’t bad. 

Arriving at the Resort

We got there and arranged for ground transportation to our hotel. And we pulled up to this– it's called the Bahia– and, man, it's incredible. Like, really high-end restaurant and bar. The service was incredible. The rooms were immaculate. We had two queen beds, and everything was perfect. It was a beautiful hotel room overlooking the pool. I'm pinching myself. So we're unpacking our stuff, and I look at my buddy and I go, “You know what? I think this is real. We're at the hotel. I can't believe this!”

Dinner at Cabo Wabo

The night of the concert, I got touch with the head of security and he was incredible, too. He and his assistant, were very, very nice and very accommodating. We walked right up past all these people lined on the sidewalk. And I was like, “I don't know where I'm supposed to be. This is awkward.” I walked right up, and the guy goes, "Hey, you're the contest winner, come on in!" He gave us these bracelets and we went and sat down in Cabo Wabo for dinner. We had prime rib, and it was incredible! The food was so amazing. 

We shared a table with another couple, and we're about five minutes in, and she looks at me and she goes, “You're Rob, aren't you? And I go, “Yeah, how do you know that?” She goes, “You're you're the contest winner from Fandiem!” They knew me from the website, so I felt kind of famous somehow. And it was kind of weird, you know, I'm just a guy. We were talking to them, and they're huge Sammy Hagar fans. They've been trying for seven years to get dinner reservations, and they got reservations that night and I could not believe the effort that people were going to.

Meeting Sammy

We were VIP, big time. We finished dinner and then got spots on the floor for the show. Then the security guard texted me, “We're going to bring you up to meet Sammy. It's going to be a quick meet and greet, so we’ll come find you.” I told them where we were on the floor. We went down, and we were two rows off the stage. It was incredible. The standing room was awesome.

So about 20 minutes later, security comes to get us. So, we went through the crowd, and the guys that were we were standing with said they’d save our spots. So we go out of the building, down the sidewalk, and up this back door, past like six security guys. We go through this private room with a desk where the head of security's sitting, and he goes, “Right through that door is Sammy’s room.” He's got his own private place. It's like a one bedroom apartment with a bathroom. So, they take us through the door, and there's Sammy Hagar just sitting on the couch with his daughter, some of his family, and all the band members are there.

So, Sammy comes up off the couch and he goes, “Hey, you guys are the contest winners! It's good to see you, thanks so much for coming!” He gave me a hug. He's like, “You guys want to take a shot with me?” And I'm like, “Of course!” He has his own tequila line, so he had his own private bar in there with a bartender. He took us over there, he did a toast with us, and we had a shot at tequila with Sammy. We talked to him for maybe three or four minutes, and then he gave me another hug. I said, “Hey, Sammy, break a leg tonight!" And he goes, "Hey, thanks, brother!" And he laughed. I was just like, I can't believe that just happened. And the room was full of people that I didn't recognize, but I knew they were famous as well. I didn't have time to meet everyone, my head was kind of spinning. 

All-Access, Baby!

We went back down on the floor and, got our spots back. We were showing the guys the pictures and stuff. Probably 15 or 20 minutes later, I hear a voice behind me again, “Hey, I need you to follow me." And I'm like, "What? Where are we going?" The guy goes, "Sammy has decided to give you guys all-access." And I'm like, you guys got to be kidding me, right? It's blowing my mind! I can't believe this is happening to begin with. 

So we got these super rare black bracelets and we went back up into his apartment, and all night long hung out with the band and met all these other people. I met Jerry Cantrell, lead singer for Alice in Chains. I'm a huge Sammy fan, but grunge got me through my life, too. It was neat to meet him, and he gave gave him us guitar pics. The lead singer for Anthrax was also there. The drummer for Journey was there. It was crazy. I just kept looking at my buddy going, “Just act like we belong here.” 

Rob-tervention

We walk back in and they're doing a pre-show prayer circle. Sammy says, “Everybody hold hands. I'm going to pray over the concert.” So he gives this cool prayer, and we videoed the whole thing. I can't believe I'm standing in this circle. My buddy is to my right holding hands with Jerry Cantrell, we're two people away from Sammy, and his publicist is on his other side of him, videoing the whole thing on a live feed that got hundreds of thousands of views. They quoted some scripture together that went “I am the way in the light, I am the way in the light, I am the way in the light.” And the lights went out. I was like, holy crap. The guy next to me goes, “That's divine intervention.” Then the lights turned back on, and turned off again. And the head of security goes over to me and he says, “Hey, Rob, you're leaning on the light switch.” I was like, oh, no! So, it was Rob-tervention.

Catwalk Viewing & Afterparty

After Sammy goes on stage, we walk out on this upper catwalk, where only famous people and family members are allowed. We got to watch the entire concert from up there. I was looking down at the concert, and I was looking over the crowd, and people were looking up at us wondering who we were because only famous people are up there. We were on that catwalk and we watched that concert for the entire night standing next to his family. I can't say enough about how crazy it was. 

After the concert was over, we all hung out in that apartment with Sammy for like two more hours at an afterparty. We had drinks and just talked to the band. Sammy is down-to-earth, just a super cool guy, like everyone else. And they made us feel like family all night. We met a guy named Scotty who was the road manager for Van Halen their entire career. It's crazy. I'm speechless. It got to be about one o'clock and I'm like, “I think it's time to roll. We've been here long enough.” We thanked security, I shook their hand and told them how grateful we were, and then we left. But, man, I tell you what, that was an experience of a lifetime. I'll never experience anything like that again. 

Relaxing in Cabo

We hit the town the next couple days and saw a lot of cool sights. We got set up with a glass bottom boat tour where the arches are. So we went out there and had pictures taken out there and had some of the best authentic Mexican food. And then we just laid by the pool and relaxed, honestly.

Memories to Last a Lifetime

The flight, the pool, the hotel, and the food all kind of comes way second to meeting Sammy Hagar and all those cool band members and his family. We felt like we were part of his family and part of the band all night. And I'll never forget that. It's the lasting memory that all my grandkids will hear about it. There's no question about it.

It's been over a week, I've told this story a million times, and I just still can't believe that it happened. But, boy, I'm so grateful and shocked still. I mean, I've never worn anything like that before, and I'm glad I donated. And working with the Fandiem team was flawless. Their communication was awesome all the time. Every time I called, they'd answer. Every time I'd emailed, they'd reply immediately. Very detailed oriented. Everything worked out really well. It was it was the greatest experience. I can't even imagine just donating $50 and having a lifetime experience like that. I'm very grateful. Thank you very much to Fandiem. I'll be donating again at a long shot, you know? You can only win one of these once-in-a-lifetime, but fingers crossed!

- Rob C. from Vancouver, Washington

 

See everything Rob got HERE!