But opening for the Rolling Stones is a shite job anyway. I cant recommend it to anybody. You get the offer and you think "Historical speaking, theyre the second most important rock band in the history of music, after the Beatles. So we should have a brush with history". But the fact is, the Rolling Stones audience today is lawyers and doctors and CPAs and contractors and real estate development people. This is a conservative, wealthy goup. No ones rocking out. The ticket prices and merchandise costs are astronomical. Its more like "Lets go to the Rolling Stones mall and watch them play on the big screen". The whole experience is horrible. First you get there, and you cant do a sound check. Then youre given an eightieth of the stage. This tiny area is set apart for you and your told "This is for you. You dont get the lights, and youre not allowed to use our sound system. And oh, by the way, you see that wooden floor? Thats Micks imported antique wood flooring from the Brazilian jungle, and thats whats he dances on. If you so much look at it, you wont get paid". Youre basically like a little TV set on the stage, playing your show as eighty-five thousand wealthy, bored-out-of their-minds fans are slowly finding their seats. Theyre all wearing their Rolling Stones leather jackets and leafing through their catalogs, deciding which Rolling Stones T-shirt and which pair of Rolling Stones slacks theyre going to get. We were the music to be played for ushering, seating, snack-getting, and clothesbuying. It was a nightmare.

---- Scar Tissue / Anthony Kiedis with Larry Sloman (2004)