21/09/2025
In honor of Tipper's finale this weekend, I thought I'd reflect on the last go-round in Denver 4 years ago. Y'all ready for a story❓
After a year+ into lockdown in 2021, my partner and I decided we would go full-send for Tipper at Red Rocks. This was going to be his first Tipping. We bought our tickets months ahead, got everything planned, and were ready for the journey.
A few weeks prior to our departure, he injured his knee while riding his motorcycle (AKA, it got squished real bad). The same knee got smacked in the same spot at his work only a few days before we took off. It hurt like hell, but how much worse could it get? We were going to see Tipper, baby. 🤘🏻😎
We landed in Denver the night before the show, and his knee was in rough shape. The pressure from the plane made it swell and walking became an arduous chore. We agreed breakfast and urgent care were our top priorities for the morning.
When we arrived at the urgent care clinic the next day, the intake nurse took one look at his knee and told us to go to the ER immediately.
The Denver Hospital admitted him. I checked into our bnb for the remainder of our trip, and waited for updates. We thought if they could care for it quickly, we could still go to the show together that night. But unfortunately the knee's impact at work, plus air travel, was enough to turn it into a hematoma, close to his artery. The doctors debated outside his hospital room door on whether to amputate or not.
Realizing this was much worse than we thought, he told me to go enjoy the show for the two of us. I'm forever grateful for having friends there in attendance (shout out ILY 🫶) so I wasn't alone.
I met new friends that night, telling them that my other half was in the Denver Hospital. Everyone was rooting for his recovery. What a wild, weird, and cathartic experience. Tipper fam is something else entirely. I took that night's music to heart. Downtempo night was the one my partner was looking forward to, so my goal was to feel it for the two of us. ✨
I stopped by the hospital again after the show on my way back to our bnb, but the doctors had just decided to move him into surgery to remove the hematoma. We agreed I would pick him up in the morning and go from there.
I swooped him the next day -- crutches, bandages, tired soul, and all. We picked up breakfast, recouped at our bnb, and headed to the lots. In spite of everything, my partner was all-in for night two.
We found the Pookster art meet up, where we got to meet a bunch of lovely people I had been online friends with for years. 🥰 Those memories and friendships will stay with me forever.
Heading into the venue, we experienced the trials and tribulations that is RRX ADA (they have a lot of room for improvement, I'll leave it at that). Not to mention hiking all those stairs on crutches -- we were definitely doing Tipper on hard mode. Major props to the venue's med tent, where they helped us re-wrap my partner's knee dressings after all that walking.
We spent the rest of the night experiencing the music with our friends in the crowd, some of whom had heard the tale of the knee the night prior, celebrating the fact that he made it. On the rocks that night, Dugan became a Tipper Soldier. 😂 The music, the art, the people, all of it -- in the end, it was all worth it.
I'm sad we aren't there on the rocks this weekend for Tipper's final send-off, grooving with our friends like we did 4 years ago. That said, I'm forever grateful we were able to make it out for Rendezvous, the Gorge, and Orion -- it makes those memories just that much sweeter.
If you've read this far, thank you, you get a high-five. I'm apparently verbose and in my feels, reflecting on the impact that Tipper's music has had on my life. 🥺
If you'll be on the rocks this weekend, have a fu***ng blast out there, be safe, and hug your homies tight for me! I love ya, Tip Fam! 🫡💖🫂🔊✨
