Since a politician never believes what he says, he is quite surprised to be taken at his word.
I can understand why those bands do it. It can be a hell of a lot of bloody fun. People are allowed to have a bit of fun after the age of 40, and a lot of them do need the money.
Only solitary men know the full joys of friendship. Others have their family; but to a solitary and an exile his friends are everything.