Lite + Brite: 37 Aesthetic Austin Events 5/3
Hello, what’s up, and welcome to the Lite + Brite newsletter.
This weekend we’re celebrating May the Fourth with lightsaber battles and Jedi dogs. Then we’re turning right around and celebrating May the Fifth (better known as Cinco de Mayo) with piñatas, mariachi, and Selena tributes.
We love events that offer unique platforms to artists, so we’re looking forward to Austin Creative Reuse’s third annual fashion show, in which every outfit includes creatively reused materials. ACR is truly one of Austin’s best community assets. We just bought a thousand toothpicks there for 50 cents. You can’t do much better than that.
We always say that in this newsletter we don’t list “normal movie screenings,” and indeed we don’t; however, we will list normal movies if you can watch them from a paddle board. And we’re headed into the second week of the month, which means it’s time for our dance party in the dark, No Lights No Lycra! Scroll down for details on all this and more. Oh and before we forget, if you missed it in our monthly newsletter, we have a playlist of piping hot new music we hand-picked that we’re really into. Please give it a listen.
If you’re not already a subscriber to this newsletter and you want to be, click here. We do one newsletter a week, usually on Fridays, plus a bonus edition around the start of each month. If you enjoy this newsletter, please support us by contributing to our Patreon and by forwarding this email to your friends who enjoy things like listening to music and leaving the house sometimes.
Let’s do fun stuff!
—Leila + Brian
liteandbriteatx.com
OUR STUFF
No Lights No Lycra, our dance party in the dark, returns to West China Tea on Thursday (May 9th). We recorded Brian Blackout’s DJ set from the last edition and you can listen to that here or scroll down for more info.
Brian’s radio show, No Humans Allowed, featured a tight and efficient mix of new+old indie, electropop, synthpop, + house this week. Stream Flash Memory from the Kpiss archives here or scroll down for the tracklist. NHA broadcasts every Wednesday at 6pm CT on kpiss.fm.
What is No Lights No Lycra?
Austin’s twice-monthly, judgment-free, substance-free, high-impact dance thing in the dark. It’s a DJ night that’s not at the club, a workout that’s not at the gym, a personal meditation that’s anything but silent. It’s produced by us, your kindly L+B overlords, and usually one or the other of us is on the hook for DJ duties. Read more about us in the Austin Chronicle. You can listen the kind of music we play over on Brian’s Mixcloud.
EVENTS WE’RE EYEING
Friday 5/3
- Bullride at the Museum of Human Achievement
Table read of a script for a film about erotic rodeo clowns + special guests - Gorintō at the Ground Floor Theatre
Immersive multi-sensory performance focusing on soundscapes - The Amazing Acro-cats at the Long Center
Watch as acrobatic cats act catty + sometimes do tricks (if you are lucky) - (weekly) Local Films Showcase at We Luv Video
Watch a series of short flicks made by local filmmakers
Saturday 5/4
- Austin Outdoor Living Tour at homes throughout Austin
Check out prominent works of landscape architecture across town - Art Salon Aesthetic Mystique at Curia Arcanum’s House of Curiosities
Art focusing on the transcendent, “fantastic creatures,” + fortunes told - Reuse on the Runway at Mueller Branch Park Pavilion
Fashion show w/”focus on inclusivity, reuse + challenging” conventions - Fiesta Austin at Fiesta Gardens
Celebrate Cinco de Mayo early w/live music, DJs, food, + cornhole - May the 4th Be with Y’all at Central Machine Works
Celebrate everything Star Wars w/costumes, kid stuff, lightsaber battles, + more - 7th Annual Gothic Prom at Elysium
“Warm yourself on the dance floor + join us in the dark, cold grasp of Prom” - Bruised Buildings at Co-Lab Projects
Sculpture + photography art opening inspired by Austin’s changing cityscape - Learning Secrets feat. Shit Robot at My Oh My
Local record selectors w/DJ set by LCD Soundsystem associate - May the Fourth: The Bark Side at Neighbors
Yes, of course Austin has a Star Wars-themed dog costume contest - Austin Cargo Bike Festival at 900 Springdale
Learn all about cargo bikes + take one for a test ride - Free Comic Book Day at comics stores throughout Austin
Comic stores across town offer up a free comic book - Open Studios at Canopy
Artists at Canopy open up their studios to the public - Karaoke Underground at Knomad
Sing karaoke to your favorite punk, indie + alt classics - Cinco de Mayo at Hotel Vegas
Celebrate the holiday w/DJs, mariachis, tacos, + cumbia - Maifest at the German Free School
Celebrate the “little sister of Oktoberfest” w/beer + German stuff - Her Dog Satan at Eastside Cinema
Screening of a film about vampire dogs + punks made here in Austin in ’91 - Body of Resonance II at Women and Their Work
Immersive sound art featuring “delicately layered sonic tapestries” - Gorintō at the Ground Floor Theatre
Immersive multi-sensory performance focusing on soundscapes - House Tour at Casa Neverlandia
Get a tour of a unique Austin home + the cover of “Weird Homes” - Austin Record Convention at the Palmer Events Center
A riot of records, a cavalcade of vinyl, + even the odd CD, cassette etc - Pecan Street Festival on E. 6th
Downtown shuts down to make way for vendors + live music - The Amazing Acro-cats at the Long Center
Watch as acrobatic cats act catty + sometimes do tricks (if you are lucky) - (weekly thru 5/25) Overheard on a Train at the Downtown CapMetro Station
Participate in immersive theatre while exploring public transit - (weekly thru 5/25) Doom Metal Goat Yoga at Jester King
“We call out to the beasts of the land to come forth and JOIN US!” - (weekly) Open Hours at the Stuffed Animal Rescue Foundation
Meet, greet, adopt, + pet stuffed animals
Sunday 5/5
- Feed Your Soul at People’s Rx North Lamar
Celebrate wellness w/BBQ, yoga, face painting, + “crystal consultation” - Cinco de Mayo Goth Swap at the Glass Coffin
Vendors selling goth-tinged goods with a Cinco de Mayo twist - YAD Bark Mitzvah at Zilker Park
Dogs become men in this canine coming-of-age ceremony - House Tour at Casa Neverlandia
Get a tour of a unique Austin home + the cover of “Weird Homes” - Austin Record Convention at the Palmer Events Center
A riot of records, a cavalcade of vinyl, + even the odd CD, cassette etc - Pecan Street Festival on E. 6th
Downtown shuts down to make way for vendors + live music - The Amazing Acro-cats at the Long Center
Watch as acrobatic cats act catty + sometimes do tricks (if you are lucky)
Monday 5/6
- Monday Night Jammie Jam at Kick Butt Coffee
Burlesque + variety performers help you kick that case of the Mondays - (weekly) Hyperreal Film Club at Hotel Vegas
Watch a Polish musical about carnivorous mermaid strippers
Tuesday 5/7
- One Page Salon at Radio Coffee + Beer
Hear local writers read their works in progress
Thursday 5/9
- No Lights No Lycra at West China Tea
Our own dance party in the dark w/music from DJ Brian Blackout - Highway Lights at Cloud Tree Auxiliary
Part live music performance, part meditation, all bean bag chairs - Movies on the Lake at Mozart’s Coffee
Paddle out onto Lady Bird Lake + watch a film - Stories on the Lawn at the Neill-Cochran House
Comedians + storytellers w/Moth-style stories about monsters - Malum Malus at the Vortex
Wicca-inspired “occult-based burlesque performance art”
No Humans Allowed 189
Flash Memory
We feel the need for speed(y show preparation). We’re optimizing and defragging and memory managing up a storm so that jams are sent to you in the optimum fashion. You won’t even have time to press the play button.
Tracklist
Counterfeit – Four Years
René & Angela – I’ll Be Good
Donny Benét – American Dream
Black Truffle – Desert Highway
Róisín Murphy – Free Will
DJ Matpat – Longing for
Golden Bug & Rodion – Washing Machine (Moullinex Remix)
Confidence Man – Push It Up
Friend of Mine – Just Your Pride
Asa Moto – Wanowan Efem
Al Corley – Square Rooms
Time Bandits – Dancing on a String
M+M – Black Stations / White Stations
No Humans Allowed is Brian Blackout’s award-winning, dodgy European news coverage receiving, weekly robots-themed radio show on internet station KPISS.fm. Machine vibes 4 machines. Songs for robots, androids, mandroids, cyborgs, AIs, cylons, skinjobs, roombas, wifi routers, smart devices, anything colored Bondi blue, and virtual assistants. Humans not required. Broadcasts live every Wednesday at 6pm CT on kpiss.fm, with over 150 episodes now streamable in the archives on topics like and Beach Simulations, Roomba dance parties, undersea adventures + Cyber Texas.
No Lights No Lycra ATX 166
w/Brian Blackout
Recorded live in the dark at West China Tea House on April 11, 2024.
Listen to No Lights No Lycra 166
Tracklist
Risqué – Starlight
Studio – Self Service
Lisa Edwards – Cry (Seedy J. Tearjerker Edit)
Prince & the Revolution – Pop Life
Taylor Swift – Lavender Haze (Pepsi Sine Rework)
Dusty Springfield – Baby Blue (Horse Meat Disco Re-edit)
Claudia Telles – Foi como um Sonho (Patchouli Brothers Edit)
Phoenix – Lisztomania (Holy Ghost! Remix)
C+C Music Factory – Gonna Make You Sweat
Queen Latifah – Come into My House
Ssion – At Least the Sky Is Blue (Johnny Jewel Remix)
Dolly Parton – 9 to 5 (Butch le Butch Remix)
Whitney Houston – I’m Every Woman
Quando Quango – Love Tempo
Anita Ward – Ring My Bell
The 2 Bears – Bear Hug
Kylie Minogue – Love at First Sight
Sophie Ellis Bextor – Murder on the Dancefloor
Scarlet Fantastic – No Memory ’14 (Luke Million Remix)
Talking Heads – Burning Down the House
The Midnight – Gloria
Bruce Springsteen – Dancing in the Dark (Arthur Baker Mix)
The The – This Is the Day
David Bowie & Queen – Under Pressure
PATREON THANKS
A huge thank-you to our Patreon subscribers Bones Malones, Amy Hayes, Katie Green, Christina Jue, Colleen MB, Lilly Ettinger, Lena Long, Amalia Litsa, Alexander Freed, Spencer, Kristen Backor, Timon A., Kate Murray, and Amy Wilde. We’re deeply grateful for your support, which allows us to do things like “pay our Mailchimp fee” and “spend hours researching Austin events when technically we should be working.”
If you’d like to support us on Patreon and get access to exclusive member-only benefits, you may do so here.
SOCIALS
Recent weeks found us watching brass bands at HONK!TX, watching the eclipse at Bobo’s Snack Bar, and watching dancing forklifts at The Way of Water at Onion Creek. Follow Lite + Brite on Instagram to keep up with our adventures. And come chat with us and the rest of the L+B community on our Discord server!
ABOUT US
How do we choose which events to feature?
Honestly, it’s pretty random. We might include anything in Austin that we, personally, would conceivably want to go to, generally excluding normal concerts, comedy shows, and movie showtimes because there are many other good resources for finding those. (We especially recommend Showlist for live music, The Darker Side of Austin for goth and metal stuff, and the 60+ Weirdest Things in Austin for exactly what it sounds like). This list is by no means exhaustive; it’s just stuff that caught our eye this week. If you have an event that you want us to consider including, send it over.
Who are we?
We are Leila + Brian. We make this newsletter. We do our own events, most often No Lights No Lycra (every second and fourth Thursday of the month), + also BYOT, a party where we share very good YouTubes (here’s a playlist from the last one). We go very hard seeing bands at SxSW (here are playlists of our favorites from 2024). We once got called “local Austin couple” by KXAN. We do some other stuff here and there. We love going out to creative events in Austin, and we want you to join us. Visit us at liteandbriteatx.com, and support us on Patreon if you like what we do.