Funkstick Farewell, A Disco Tribute at Jackhammer Chicago
Thank You, Funkstick
A two year party that made a home at Jackhammer and The Hole in April 2025. Connie Kway-Lewd turned our floors into a temple of disco, vinyl, and radical welcome. This is our tribute to a promoter who dedicated his heart and souls to our disco community.
As Donna Summer would say, this past Sunday was the last dance. On July 19, 2025, Funkstick spun its final record across Jackhammer and The Hole, capping a two year run of two floors, all vinyl, all disco, all night. Funkstick found its home on our floors in April 2025, and in the months since it became a true staple of both bars. If you were in the room, you felt it. If you were ever in the room, this one is for you too.
Funkstick was never just a party. It was a promise kept every single month by Connie Kway-Lewd, also known as Leo. A promise that the dance floor belonged to everyone.
Folks of all colors, backgrounds, ethnicities, weights, abilities, bodies, genders, gender expressions, and financial capabilities were welcome and wanted at Funkstick.
All bodies welcome in all areas of the party. Respect expected. Consent mandatory.
A Space Built on Care
Connie (Leo) has always been about creating a safe and inclusive space, and with Funkstick he did exactly that. He built an event that was safe, accessible, and affordable, free of discrimination through every single aspect of it. Nothing about that is an accident. It takes intention, month after month, to hold a door open that wide and keep it open.
That care showed up in the details. In the sliding welcome that made sure money was never the reason someone stayed home. In two floors of all vinyl disco that treated the music and the crowd with equal respect. In a room where consent was the baseline and everyone got to feel like they belonged.
A Spotlight for the Community
Funkstick was also a launch pad. Across two years, Leo handed the spotlight to so many DJs and artists in our community, giving them a stage, a crowd, and a reason to shine. He used his party to lift other people up. That generosity is a huge part of the mark he leaves behind, and it will keep echoing through every artist he put on.
Keeping Vinyl and Disco Alive
In an all digital world, Funkstick kept the needle on the record. All vinyl, all disco, all night, every time. Leo and Funkstick helped keep a piece of queer nightlife history spinning, and helped a new generation fall in love with the sound. The Hole is proud to have been a home for it.
In Leo's Own Words
On April 21, Leo shared the news that Funkstick would take its final bow. We are keeping his words here, exactly as he gave them to us.
You better sit down kids. We need to talk.
Being able to do FunkStick and having so many folks get into it these last two years has brought me so much happiness, and I hope it has for you as well.
Right as the party was getting off the ground, my partner moved to Portland, OR for work. I had originally planned to move with him, but I decided to stay in Chicago to see what happened with FunkStick. As amazing as these last two years have been, it's time for me to join him there.
I need to announce that I will be moving this Summer and our regular monthly parties will be coming to an end in July.
I hope to come back to Chicago a few times a year to do FunkStick.
We have three more times to twirl together: 5/17, 6/28 after the Pride Parade, and 7/19. All of the parties will be at Jackhammer and The Hole.
These last two years and all the support you have shown have really meant so much to me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I hope you'll be able to come to the last three parties and see me do my best Tammy Faye.
Connie / Leo
From All of Us at The Hole
Leo, thank you. Thank you for the music, for the care, for the spotlight you shared so freely, and for making our floors a safer, brighter, more joyful place every time you set up your turntables. You made a home here, and you made room in it for all of us.
And to every single person who packed these floors, twirled until close, cheered on a new DJ, and showed up as your whole self, thank you. Funkstick was you. You kept vinyl and disco alive, and you proved every month what queer celebration and liberation looks like on a dance floor.
Portland is lucky to have you, Leo. Come back and twirl with us whenever you can. The needle is always ready to drop.
With all our love and one last spin,
The Hole Family
