Fans who went to go see Third Eye Blind at a charity event show at the Republican National Convention probably did not get exactly what they expected. Last Tuesday night (July 19), the second day of the RNC, Third Eye Blind played at the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame for the Musicians On Call nonprofit organization. The event, which was sponsored by the Recording Industry Association of America, was supposed to be a morale raising experience filled to the brim with patriotic pro-American songs. However, Stephen Jenkins, frontman for 3EB, had other plans.

Although the event was not explicitly affiliated with the RNC, the RIAA had made it pretty clear that the show was tied to the Donald Trump victory party, and that many of those in attendance were members of the Republican Party.

Knowing his audience, Jenkins criticized and antagonized the mostly conservative crowd, taking shots at the Republican party’s exclusive platform as well as its racist, sexist, and homophobic figurehead and presidential candidate, Donald Trump. Jenkins championed an inclusive attitude of acceptance and tolerance, particularly towards LGBTQ+ rights. Jenkins also condemned the party’s well-known denial of scientific evidence (climate change, fracking leading to earthquakes, etc.) by shouting “Raise your hand if you believe in science.”

Unsurprisingly, the audience members started booing the band, but Jenkins replied “You can boo all you want, but I’m the motherfucking artist up here.” Apparently, the audience was also quite disappointed due to the lack of hits that Third Eye Blind played while on stage. The only Nineties hit that 3EB played was “Jumper,” a track that Jenkins penned following the suicide of his gay friend. Jenkins prefaced the song by preaching to the crowd, saying “To love this song is to take into your heart the message and to actually have the feeling to arrive and move forward and not live your life in fear [not] imposing that fear on other people.”

Following the event, the Third Eye Blind Twitter account continually took jabs at conservative audience members who expressed their disappointment with the show. One fan tweeted that “[They] have never been more disappointed,” to which 3EB simply replied “Good.”

Wednesday noon, the band wrote posted an update on the event on their Facebook page, saying: “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. … 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.”