"I got a quick question," said Foo Fighter frontman Dave Grohl, boasting a crooked grin. "How fucking weird is this whole thing?" The audience, a meager 500 or so (quite small for the multi-platinum band), joyously cheered in agreement. "Flying a bunch of weirdoes out here..." he smacked on his gum and shook his head in disbelief, still boasting a glowing smile, before the Foo Fighters broke into "Times Like These."

Honestly, it was a little weird. On Saturday, June 18th, after a three-hour plane ride, I was standing in Hanger 58 on the former Walker Air Force Base in Roswell, New Mexico, just feet away from one of the sexiest men in rock 'n' roll (it's the wicked sense of humor that seals the deal). I was surrounded by a few hundred lucky contest winners from around the nation (Seattle, Los Angeles, New York, and Minneapolis)—we were all flown in for the day on chartered jets to help the Foo Fighters celebrate their 10-year anniversary and the release of their new ambitious double album, In Your Honor.

The show was a private performance sponsored by RealNetworks' Rhapsody music service. Grohl, a self-proclaimed UFO nut who named his new record label Roswell, wanted the show to happen in the town that is home to the International UFO Museum and Research Center, among other alien attractions. The only way to get in was to win a spot via radio and website contests, and the Foo didn't fail to make the performance worth everyone's exhausting daylong trek. The band opened with the new record's title track, which slowly grew into a solid wall of melodic noise as Grohl, guitarist Chris Shiflett, bassist Nate Mendel, and drummer Taylor Hawkins settled into their places on the stage. Grohl stepped up to the mic, was greeted with explosive cheers, and screamed the song's first line: "Can you hear me? Hear me screaming?"

From there, the band played new and old favorites, mostly familiar singles, from the band's five albums. Hawkins's drumming was flawless, and though the rest of the band never spoke (and Mendel never smiled, come to think of it) they still exuded amazing energy, only further amping the already crazily stoked crowd. During "Stacked Actors," Grohl, who was using a wireless amp, surprised everyone by wandering offstage and appearing in the middle of the crowd, standing on a chair and jamming for a good five minutes while everyone clamored to snap photos with their cell phones.

It was a wonderful whirlwind of a day, and well worth the trip, as much as I hate flying. But it was also a little weird. During a breakdown of the evening's closing song, "This Is a Call," Grohl laughed and said, "You know, we will eventually come to the cities you live in. I promise. You don't always have to come to us; we will bring it to you." Then the Foo continued to rock for another minute before we all got back on the plane destined for home, our heads dizzy from the rock onslaught and New Mexico heatstroke. MEGAN SELING