Third Eye Blind Antagonize RNC Crowd At Cleveland Show
Pity any band who, in the regular course of touring, finds itself in Cleveland this week, forced to confront the horde of Republican political-class types who have descended on the city’s Republican National Convention. Case in point: ’90s alt-rock hitmakers Third Eye Blind, who played a charity show at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame last night and who took the opportunity to actively piss off their audience.
According to Cleveland.com, the show, sponsored by the RIAA and AT&T, “was expected to feature Third Eye Blind covering several pro-America anthems for the RNC friendly audience in attendance.” That’s not what happened! Instead, frontman Stephan Jenkins skipped playing many of his band’s hits, vented against conservative intolerance, and delighted in whatever boos he got. One typical bit of stage banter: “Who here believes in science?” Another: “You can boo all you want, but I’m the motherfucking artist up here.”
Third Eye Blind tonite at #RNCinCLE event: We believe in tolerance, acceptance 🙌🙌 (Followed by boos) pic.twitter.com/WPRIEMZmEp
— Tina (@tinpant) July 20, 2016
That clip above is of the band playing “Jumper,” which they specifically played to repudiate the RNC’s homophobic agenda and which turned out to be the only recognizable single in their setlist, as Billboard reports. They also reportedly played the song “Non-Dairy Creamer,” which includes the repeated chant “young gay Republicans.”
The band also answered questions on their Twitter feed after the show, and some of their answers are pretty great:
@hunterw Great question. We were not, as musicians on call were well aware of who we are and our take on things (like science and rights!)
— Third Eye Blind (@ThirdEyeBlind) July 20, 2016
@LWhiteGRLprob good
— Third Eye Blind (@ThirdEyeBlind) July 20, 2016
Third Eye Blind! Who knew?
UDPATE: Third Eye Blind have shared a statement about their anti-RNC banter.