As I inched toward my 66th birthday as a Chicago queer man, I realized that I had no idea who or what the person known as CircuitMOM is.
Of course I had heard the name, and I was aware that he is the architect of some extravagantly epic parties, but until I attended the 40th Anniversary Celebration of Chicago House on Oct. 18, I had no clue. That performance intrigued me enough to really investigate, not just a single event but a double-whammy of Halloween events where the LGBTQ+ population has traditionally taken ownership and waved its freak flag.
The first event was I Scream on Oct. 23 at Charlie’s, and it appeared to be a nice little scaled-down funk-fest in a small gay bar. But appearances are deceiving as men and women flooded the bar in costume along with a crew go-go dancer and the room got wilder by the minute. What surprised me was the jolly gusto of ringleader Matthew Harvat, otherwise known as CircuitMOM, who didn’t have to perform as much as grace Charlie’s with his presence. The message and vibe were loud and clear…all are welcome to have a good time.
The second event, Nightmare at House of Blues on Oct. 25, was closer to a Dionysian bacchanal by comparison. The main floor of the auditorium was jam packed with sweaty bodies of course, but there were extravagant decorations in every direction, a photo booth for anyone who wanted to record their costume, and an audience who took the notion of dressing up and down seriously.
There were two DJs spinning all night (DJ J Warren and Erik Vilar in his CircuitMOM debut), a dance performance by blood-soaked eyeballs, an over-the-top performance by artist Apollo Venom, a costume contest and a grand finale which seemed to pull off political satire, high comedy and performance art. With a bevy of multi-racial muscular men dancing around in delicate corsets laced with pearls and embroidery, and CircuitMOM dressed as a wayward Marie Antionette, one could easily assume it was a dig at our anti-LGBTQ+, anti-D.E.I., money-grubbing president.
Granted, it would spoil the fun to question Harvat’s intentions by loading all those issues on the performance (actually he and his dancers were portraying creepy 18th-century dolls and not skewering the President on their stiletto heels). What I really got out of my CircuitMOM experience was the power of an entrepreneur and organization focused on creating loud, rowdy joyful celebrations in safe spaces for all members of the community.
For Nightmare, Harvat obviously engaged an army of talent with a crew of 36 which included dancers, performers, costuming, decor and DJs to create a ribald, colorful epic reminiscent of both Flo Ziegfield and Alice Cooper. In the end it was a great big jolly mess and one of the best Saturday nights I’ve had in my life. Maybe no one has properly recognized CircuitMOM’s contributions to the LGBTQ+ community, but clearly after producing these events since 1992 we would be strongly remiss if we didn’t.
CircuitMom’s next big event is The Day of the Dead T Dance at Fantasy Nightclub at 3941 N. Halsted on Nov. 2, 2025.
Photos by Vern Hester
