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noiZe at 18: Barely Legal

18 years, 2 wars, 5 Madonna reinventions & 12 Cher ‘Farewell’ tours later, we’re still going strong

Written by Michael Taylor

Remember 1994? The Internet was still for nerds — before nerds became billionaires and cool. We had to learn more than we ever wanted to know about the president’s penchant for cigar-inspired blow jobs. Ads for porn had mailing addresses. The only place to cruise for sex online were the AOL chat rooms. Lady Gaga was still Stefani Joanne Angelina and had yet to become a student at a convent school. And September 11 was only another day on the calendar.

That year also saw the birth of the first national magazine dedicated to chronicling the burgeoning gay scene that was becoming collectively known as the Circuit. Before his untimely passing, Steve Kammon, the founder of noiZe (then called Circuit NoiZe) led us through the expansion of dance parties from regional AIDS benefits to huge weekend-long affairs that would attract people from around the world. The magazine that became known as “the bible of Circuit culture” brought readers information about how to have lots and lots of sex without fear in a column entitled “Safe Slut,” while “The Ears Have It” repeated catty remarks picked up off the dance floor.

But Kammon had a larger purpose in mind. Spread throughout the magazine was his personal fervently held belief that Circuit parties also brought out the best in us. At the time, Kammon’s emphasis on the spiritual aspect of communal dancing was a flashpoint of controversy. That worldview ran counter to then-major voices in our community, such as Michaelangelo Signorile (in his book Life Outside) and Gabriel Rotello (in Sexual Ecology) dismissed as a shirtless, shallow, hedonistic “Circuit queens.” After a long night of partying, it was easy to forget the point of it all, but Circuit Noize was always there as you exited the club to remind you.

In 2006, after absorbing the painful loss of a dear friend, the remaining editorial staff met — including New York-based editors Jefferey and D. Michael Taylor (no relation!) — in Los Angeles to update Kammon’s vision for a rising generation of Circuit boyz, and noiZe was born. Trying to distill the larger purpose of our continuing adventure together, they came up with the tagline “Celebrate, Explore, Live” to encapsulate the larger purpose of partying. A more inclusive attitude allowed us to cover the emerging festivals, cruises, and globetrotting lifestyle of the men we grew up with and the boyz who were just learning to love the Circuit lifestyle.

Then came what many believed was a death blow: a much remarked-upon 2007 in Out magazine about the purported “death of the Circuit.” We knew rumors of our death were greatly exaggerated, so we asked the author of the piece, Steve Weinstein, a grizzled veteran of the New York editorial scene, to recommend someone to help us resurrect the negative image of the Circuit. The modest freelance writer and editor recommended … himself. After writing what was supposed to have been our obituary, he has been instrumental in broadening the magazine’s content. His deep ties to the gay party community and his undying love for this magazine have been crucial to the rebirth of noiZe and the Circuit itself as a continued force in gay culture, as have the efforts of our publishing partners in life and work, Stephen Ceplenski and Gary Steinberg.

Whether it’s White, Black, or Purple, we still love covering the mammoth parties, the outsized personalities, the talented DJs, the inventive promoters, and the friendly host cities that help make it all happen — not to mention you, the readers. Now that we’re finally 18, we can do it all legally!

Remember the time?

1994 — Circuit Noize launches, providing the first reliable calendar of Circuit events for the community; NYC celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots

1995 — The AIDS “cocktail” changes the course of the disease from a death sentence to a managed illness

1996 — Atlantis Events cruises to Sydney Mardi Gras; Madonna cuts ties with Junior Vasquez after he releases “If Madonna Calls”; a Roxy residency & gigs on Fire Island establish Victor Calderone as the first non-gay Circuit DJ star; Gay Days explodes from a red-shirted tourists to 10,000

1997 — Well-known voguer Kevin Aviance graces the Fall cover as NYC’s infamous Arena comes to an end

1998 — Fire Island’s Morning Party ends in a blizzard of bad publicity; Pines Party emerges from the ashes; Madonna’s Ray of Light, inspired by her study of mystic Judaism, revolutionizes dance music; Cher’s “Believe” dominates the dance floor & music charts; DanceSafe brings common sense to drug use in raves

1999 — New Year’s Eve takes on added significance as people anticipate the Y2K bug

2000 — Ric Sena produces the Millennium March’s giant afterparty at the Post Office Pavilion in Washington and the first Alegria in New York at Sound Factory; RKM, Miami’s “Future Boys” grace the cover of Circuit Noize for the first time; 18,000 attend Black & Blue at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium; Vermont becomes the first state to recognize gay unions

2001 — When Boys Fly the first documentary film about the Circuit, chronicles young guys attending the Miami White Party; Circuit, the first dramatic film that takes a look at the Circuit, includes footage of the Palm Springs White Party; the Purple Foundation brings the Circuit to Dallas; the Netherlands becomes the first nation to legalize same-sex marriage; Manhunt launches in Boston

2002 — Apple introduces the iMac G4, beginning the company’s emergence to become the world’s biggest company

2003 — War begins in Iraq; the U.S. Supreme Court, in Lawrence v. Texas, finally strikes down “sodomy” laws, making homosex legal; Massachusetts becomes the first state to legalize same-sex marriage

2004 — The New York Times Style section headlines with an article on the Miami White Party; New Jersey’s Jim McGreevey comes out and (briefly) the first openly gay governor; a New York Times article describes the effects of crystal meth on gay life & nightlife

2005 — Hurricane Katrina devastates New Orleans, but spares gayborhoods the French Quarter and Faubourg Marigny; Abba members reunite for the premier of musical Mamma Mia in Stockholm; “Drug Meal” cover makes some Circuit Noize advertisers nervous

2006 — Buck Angel (“the man with a pussy”) performs at the Black Party; Pussycat Dolls, En Vogue and Joan Jett headline Palm Spring’s Dinah Shore Weekend, the major lesbian Circuit party; amFar partners Vienna’s Life Ball, Europe’s largest AIDS fund-raiser

2007 — Out Magazine publishes “Save The Last Dance”; noiZe relaunches with a bold new look; Stephen Pougnet becomes the out-gay mayor of Palm Springs; San Francisco’s Folsom Street’s “Last Supper” poster is criticized as “anti-religious”

2008 — Barack Obama becomes president; California’s Proposition 8, retracting same-sex marriage, shocks gay activists; disco queen meets reigning queen when Elizabeth II makes Kylie Minogue an Officer of the British Empire; Donna Summer releases critically acclaimed album Crayons; Chris DeCarlo begins his long-running cartoon series “Party Chasers,” in noiZe

2009 — Michael Jackson’s death shocks the world; Lady Gaga performs at the White Party Palm Springs; Iceland’s Johanna Sigurdardottir becomes the first out-gay head of a nation’s government; Matthew Mitcham, the first out-gay Olympian gold medalist & all-around dreamboat is grand marshal of the revitalized Sydney Mardi Gras

2010 — The Miami White Party celebrates its last party at sprawling Renaissance-inspired Vizcaya; AOL (finally) shuts down its chat rooms; Houston Mayor Annise Parker becomes first out-gay mayor of a major U.S. city; women tear while gay men cheer when Ricky Martin comes out

2011 — Fire Island Pines harbor burns down, including the Pavilion, recent owners vow to rebuild

2012 — noiZe turns 18, starts looking for a fake ID

People We’ve Profiled

Dave Aude
Mark Baker
Alyson Calagna
Jeffrey Sanker
Francesco Pagano
Randy Bettis
Chris Harris
The Perry Twins
Tom Whitman
Moto Blanco
Alexander Catala
Twisted Dee and Phil B
DJ Chus
Brett Henrichsen
Freemasons
Hilton Wolman
Ana Paula
Mark Anthony
Rich Campbell
Quentin Harris
Boris
Patrick Guay
Micky Friedmann
Joe Gauthreaux
Cary Stringfellow
Hector Fonseca
Dan De Leon
Tracy Young
Paul Goodyear

Cities We’ve Spotlighted/h2> Tel Aviv Salt Lake City Utah Austin Toronto Fire Island Las Vegas Minneapolis Brighton Madrid Sao Paulo Miami Barcelona San Francisco Palm Springs Boston New Orleans Los Angeles New York

Reader Comments

Awesome article! Yes I remember the start of the circuit, mid-life crisis of the circuit and now the rebirth!! I could not be more happy to be part of it and when I could not I have had Circuit Noize/Noize to keep me informed and make me part of it. THANK YOU NOIZE!!! HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY!!!

By Mark Rais on 05-11-2012

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