Third Eye Blind Schooled A Conservative Audience Near The RNC Last Night

By Stephen Gossett in News on Jul 20, 2016 3:21PM

Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind performs onstage during day 3 of the Firefly Music Festival on June 21, 2014 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Firefly Music Festival)

Unaccustomed as we are to singing the praises of '90s post-grunge outfit Third Eye Blind, we have to commend the band’s performance-turned-genius troll job on Tuesday night at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Yes, while the Republican National Convention took place not far away.

At a charity concert co-hosted by the Recording Industry Association of America, the band was reportedly expected to perform pro-America cover material, but instead frontman Stephan Jenkins used the platform to chastise the GOP’s anti-LGBTQ platform and promote inclusivity. (Third Eye Blind’s 1998 hit “Jumper” is about the suicide of gay friend of Jenkins; and the singer wrote a critical opinion for Huffington Post in 2012 called “Why We Aren’t Playing at the RNC.”)

At one point, Jenkins also asked the crowd to “raise your hand if you believe in science.” Some of the crowd, predictably, booed.

Portions of the apparently conservative crowd were none too happy, and responded with a chorus of boos. Jenkins rebutted at one point, “You can boo all you want, but I’m the motherfucking artist up here.” The set was light on the band's iconic hits, too, which reportedly further agitated the crowd.

Some fans continued to complain on social media. But the band laudably doubled down on the Trojan Horse attack.