Foo Fighters Go From Faceless Sea of Fans to Intimate Garage Gigs

Most garage bands dreams of playing huge venues in front of hordes of adoring fans. But what happens once a band has toured the world playing massive arenas and huge festivals? If your band is Foo Fighters, you head back to the garage.

Recorded in Dave Grohl's garage in California's San Fernando Valley, 'Wasting Light' sees the group go retro. They tracked the album -- Foo Fighters' seventh -- entirely on analog tape with Butch Vig, who produced Nirvana's breakout 'Nevermind,' at the helm.

Grohl tells Spinner that he dialed back the technology to keep the recording process fresh.

"We don't want to keep on making the same record or doing the same things over and over," he says. "So rather than make an album on a big commercial studio, we were like, 'F--- it, let's do it in our garage.'"

In that same spirit, the band is preparing for it's inevitable summer festival tour by jamming in select garages throughout North America.

The venues were chosen through a contest, which had fans composing 25-word essays on why they should host an intimate rock show for 50 of their friends. In the end, eight lucky fans in cities such as New York, Toronto and Seattle were chosen to host a show by one of the world's biggest bands in their own garage.

About to play one such show in Toronto tonight (March 14), Grohl explains how gigs in smaller spaces prepare the band for bigger stages.

"When you are confined into a tight space, you are forced to really listen. These shows in little rooms are only making us tighter. We are not ready to play a big arena rock show -- so why not get warmed up in someone else's garage?"

Back in 2008, Foo Fighters played their biggest show when 86,000 fans packed London's Wembley Stadium on two consecutive nights. These garage gigs give Grohl and co. a chance connect with fans on a more personal level. And for fans, they are a once in lifetime chance to get close and personal with their favorite band.

While it's certainly a special concert for contest winners, drummer Taylor Hawkins tells Spinner that after playing so many gigs with a faceless sea of fans, these intimate shows really stand out.

"The gigs you remember are the strangest, weirdest and most f---ed up ones. The first garage gig was in Yonkers, at this guy John's house," he says. "He was just so stoked that it almost made me cry -- I'll remember that gig forever. It was one of the top 10 gigs we have ever done, and it was in a garage."

Watch Foo Fighter's Video for 'Rope' From 'Wasting Light'