It was supposed to be just a charity concert organized by Recording Industry Association of America to benefit the nonprofit group Musicians On Call. Attendees, many of them from the Republican National Convention, got an earful of something else instead.
Stephen Jenkins, lead singer of 90s rock band, Third Eye Blind, used the stage to advocate for science, lecture the conservative crowd on gay rights, and to blast Donald Trump, the republican nominee for president. When the crowd expressed displeasure by booing, he reminded them “You can boo all you want but I’m the motherf—ing artist up here.”
The band took to Facebook and Twitter to explain why they were playing in front of so many GOP convention attendees.
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.
The performance and that follow up tweets and posts might deserve a mic drop.
Featured image, screen grab, YouTube.com.
