Third Eye Blind Mocks Republicans to Their Faces, Gets Booed

Remember Third Eye Blind? “Jumper,” “Semi-Charmed Life,” “How’s It Gonna Be”? Maybe you even remember deeper cuts, like “Never Let You Go” and “Losing a Whole Year.” (In case it isn’t obvious, I was a HUGE Third Eye Blind fan back in the musically perfect 90s.) Good news: they’re back, and this time they’re… speaking truth to power?

At a recent benefit concert in Cleveland that the Huffington Post says was specifically scheduled to coincide with the Republican National Convention, the pop-rock band’s lead singer Stephan Jenkins was especially combative with his onstage banter. In between songs, he asked people in the audience to “raise your hand if you believe in science”; introduced their hit “Jumper” with a monologue on gay rights, and responded to people who booed him like this (NSFW language):

Ice cold. Here’s his bit on gay rights:

While this wasn’t specifically a Republican event, Cleveland is currently overrun with the Grand Old Party’s members, who are in town for the RNC. That would certainly explain the booing. (Some of the booing may have also resulted from the fact that they played “mostly new material,” according to HuffPo, and that never goes well.)

When multiple media outlets reported that Third Eye Blind (or 3eb, as 9-year-old me affectionately called them) played this show at the RNC, rather than just near it, the band took to Facebook to explain themselves in this post that has since gone viral:

Here’s the full post in text form:

To clarify:

We did not play an RNC event. We performed at a benefit for Musicians on Call because we support their mission in bringing music to the bedsides of patients in hospitals.

Given that the benefit was held in Cleveland, we suspected that convention types might show up and we let it be known we were there to support Musicians on Call and that we in fact repudiate every last stitch of the RNC platform and the grotesque that is their nominee.

–Science is science.

–Coal is not clean.

–Black Lives Matter.

–LGBTQ = equal.

–Separation of church and state (still a good idea)

We could go on.

We have Republican friends, family members, and fans, and we love them all. What we reject is what their party has come to stand for. But in keeping with Musicians on Call’s message, we believe in the gathering power of music. With that spirit we don’t step back from our audience wherever or whomever they are.

Warmly, your friends in 3eb.

Jenkins actually wrote an editorial around the time of the 2012 convention explaining why the band would never play the RNC. Looks like he’s stuck to his word.

What do you think? Was Third Eye Blind’s trolling funny or obnoxious? Let us know in the comments below or @WhatsTrending on Twitter!