One minute they're opening for The Rolling Stones, they next they're playing the Coca-Cola stage.

For Sloan, the pop quartet from Halifax, this is as normal as it gets.

"That's the story of our career. We'll play a huge show in Canada and then we'll go to the U.S. and play for a couple hundred people.

"After 16 years, we're kind of use to it," says rhythm guitarist Jay Ferguson.

Sloan, which plays the Calgary Stampede's Coke stage tonight, has participated in two of the most anticipated concerts in recent years -- The Rolling Stones' A Bigger Bang tour and The Police's reunion tour.

"I've loved the Rolling Stones since I was a little kid, so that was pretty thrilling to be able to share the stage with them. We got to meet them and that was insane," says Ferguson. "They were just like the cliches you build up in your mind about them -- Charlie (Watts) was a proper gentleman, Mick (Jagger) was like the business man and Keith (Richards) and Ronnie (Wood) were like a couple kids running around half in the bag."

In Halifax, as openers of The Stones, Sloan played in front of a crowd of 50,000, roughly four times the amount of seats in most city arenas. So when The Police asked the band to play on its current tour, they were prepared for anything and eager to get going.

"I love rock history, I am totally wrapped up in it, so playing those shows was a total thrill," says Ferguson, adding the experience would have been ever better if they'd met the band.

"It was the second show of their tour, so I think they were a little bit stressed. They had a four-hour sound check in the middle of the day, still trying to learn songs and work the kinks out. I got a lot of goose bumps watching that just because it was awkward -- they were still arguing over songs, which was kind of funny."

While Sloan loves being asked to play with the really big boys, Ferguson says it's more important to increase their own fan base.

That's why the band has been touring the world in support of their eighth CD, Never Hear the End of It, since its release last September.

"Opening for bands, I honestly don't think does that much. There is a benefit of playing to that many people, but that's not why we do it. Our ideal would be to be an underground success every- where."