Third Eye Blind play Cleveland and take on the RNC platform
If fans were wondering why Third Eye Blind was playing in Cleveland during the Republican National Convention, it wasn't to make friends.
The group performed at a charity event for nonprofit Musicians on Call at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and while it was not an official RNC event, singer Stephan Jenkins apparently assumed -- correctly that there were many Republicans in the crowd.
Jenkins and the band reportedly took the opportunity to criticize and mock the newly adopted GOP platform, changing lyrics to their songs and making a pointed introduction to their closing number, "Jumper," about a gay man who commits suicide.
"To love this song is to take into your heart the message and to actually have a feeling to arrive and move forward and not live your life in fear and imposing that fear on other people," Jenkins said. At the end of the song, he said, "Raise your hand if you believe in science."
Online video clips of the concert show the audience booing, to which Jenkins responded, "You can boo all you want, but I'm the motherf**king artist up here."
I dont tweet much but happy to have been part of this troll of the RNC today with the @ThirdEyeBlind guys. https://t.co/t6igSvMCip
— Eddie Hudson (@ehudsonatx) July 20, 2016
@LWhiteGRLprob good
— Third Eye Blind (@ThirdEyeBlind) July 20, 2016
A setlist for the event tweeted out by an attendee earlier suggested the band would close with their biggest hit, "Semi-Charmed Life," but after the back-and-forth with the audience, they chose not to play an encore.
On Wednesday, via the group's official Facebook page, they clarified their actions: