Third Eye Blind Troll Republican National Convention

Third Eye Blind: folk heroes? Last night, the alt-rockers performed at charity event at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland that was tied to the Republican National Convention, which is currently taking place in the city. Instead of playing to the crowd, the band spent the night performing deeper cuts from their catalogue (no “Semi-Charmed Life,” though they did play “Jumper”) and proclaiming their support for LGBT rights and science, as Entertainment Weekly points out. Essentially, they trolled the audience.

At one point, frontman Stephen Jenkins asked “Who here believes in science?” or “Raise your hand in you believe in science.” (Reports vary on what his exact wording was.) Later, Jenkins responded to the boos by quipping, “You can boo all you want, but I’m the motherfucking artist up here.” (They also played “Non-Dairy Creamer,” a song that features a refrain about “two gay Republicans.”) When an attending fan wrote on Twitter that she had “never been more disappointed,” the band replied: “Good.” Find some clips below, as well as Third Eye Blind’s tweets.

Third Eye Blind also shared a statement on their Facebook page clarifying why they trolled concertgoers at the charity event:

.@ThirdEyeBlind trolls #RNCinCLE pic.twitter.com/zXIKWdO5Hj

— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) July 20, 2016

Setlist for @ThirdEyeBlind at RNC; Stephan condemned the GOP and yelled “raise your hand if you believe in science!” pic.twitter.com/C6DeHBRP5F

— Matt Negrin (@MattNegrin) July 20, 2016

@LWhiteGRLprob good

— Third Eye Blind (@ThirdEyeBlind) July 20, 2016

@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

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