Maynard James Keenan used TOOL's first show of the year to make what appears to be a brave political statement. During last night's (May 21st) headlining performance at Florida's Welcome to Rockville fest, TOOL's singer took the stage in drag, donning prosthetic breasts, a blonde wig and over-the-top lipstick in a pointed defiance of the state's recent anti-drag legislation, which threatens the viability of drag performances and aims to criminalize expressions of trans and LGBTQ pride throughout Florida.
In one recently signed bill by Governor Ron DeSantis, minors are prohibited from all drag events in the state, and since Welcome to Rockville is an all-ages event, Keenan's getup technically challenged the state's new law in a not-so-subtle act of protest.
Of course, this isn't the first time Keenan has donned such a getup. The frontman has been wearing bizarre stage outfits throughout TOOL's entire history, and even wore fake boobs onstage during the band's Ænima era in the late Nineties.
In fact, in a recent interview on Steve-O's Wild Ride podcast, Keenan teased that he had some prosthetic breasts in his Amazon cart that he was ordering ahead of TOOL's upcoming live shows.
"I don't want to show you my Amazon cart right now, but I literally was buying … with everything going on right now, I was like, 'I gotta bring back the tits.' Because I used to wear 'em in '97," Keenan told Steve-O, implying that because of the turbulent political moment, it was high time to make a statement.
Revolver photographer Jacquelin Goldberg was on the ground at Welcome to Rockville, and she shot many photos of Keenan in his righteously entertaining getup — as well as the rest of TOOL throughout the kickass performance. See a selection of her photos below.
