Tool vocalist dresses in drag at ‘all-ages’ Welcome to Rockville, flouting DeSantis anti-drag laws

Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan took the stage in drag at Daytona’s Welcome to Rockville festival Sunday for the band’s performance — in defiance of Gov. Ron DeSantis-backed laws banning drag performances.

Keenan stepped onstage wearing makeup, prosthetic breasts and a blonde wig, flouting — intentionally or not — recent bills signed into law by the governor that make it illegal for minors to attend drag shows.

And, since Welcome to Rockville is an all-ages festival, Tool were essentially breaking these paper-thin laws from the big stage.

This was Tool’s first show of 2023 and all eyes were on them, which made the timing right for such a gesture. Reaction across music websites like Consequence and Revolver have been positive, with Billboard going so far as to say that Keenan used the occasion to “slip into something that seemed aimed at making Florida Gov. and likely Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis feel uncomfortable.”

OW photographer (and drag devotee) Jacquelin Goldberg, on the scene shooting, hipped us to this, saying: “I thought he was an old lady coming up on stage at first. And then when he grabbed the mic I was like, ‘Oh my god, it’s Maynard! Yessss!'” From her vantage point, the crowd “loved it.”

As of this writing the Florida legislature have not passed a bill banning Tool, nor have the DBPR pulled the liquor license of Daytona Speedway.

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This article appears in Summer Guide 2023.