Rock band Third Eye Blind taunts Republicans at concert during RNC
WESTLAKE, Ohio — The rock band Third Eye Blind frustrated some guests at a charity concert held during the Republican National Convention on Tuesday. According to multiple accounts posted by attendees on social media, the band played some of its more obscure songs and mocked socially conservative positions during its set at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.
In tweets posted on the official Third Eye Blind account, the band indicated it was pleased the show upset some in the audience.
“I have never been more disappointed,” wrote a Twitter user named Liza White.
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“good,” replied the band.
One Twitter video showed the band’s lead singer, Stephan Jenkins, speaking out in favor of gay rights before the beginning of a song.
Another clip showed Jenkins being jeered.
“You can boo all you want, but I’m the motherf***ing artist up here,” he replied.
According to Snapchat’s head of news, Peter Hamby, at one point in the show, Jenkins asked, “Who here believes in science?”
“So much booing,” Hamby wrote.
Multiple Twitter users particularly objected to the fact that the band didn’t play its 1997 hit “Semi-Charmed Life.”
The invitation-only concert was produced and sponsored by the Recording Industry Association of America, which lobbies for the record industry. Spokespeople for the RIAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Yahoo News. The concert was billed as a charity benefit for Musicians On Call, “a nonprofit that brings live and recorded music to the bedsides of patients in health care facilities.”
In the immediate aftermath of the show, some conservatives took to Twitter to argue Third Eye Blind shouldn’t have used a charity event to make a statement. The band’s official Twitter account told Yahoo News that it wasn’t especially concerned about having a negative impact on the charity.
“We were not, as musicians on call were well aware of who we are and our take on things (like science and rights!),” the band wrote.
On Wednesday afternoon, Third Eye Blind issued a statement stressing that it did not play at an official RNC event. The band also reiterated some of its more liberal beliefs:
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