Lite + Brite: 43 Flourishing Austin Events 5/17

Hello, what’s up, and welcome to the Lite + Brite newsletter.

Alright y’all, the weekend is here and so is your weekly edition of our newsletter for arty + weird events. A quick note first! We’re throwing an explicitly 80s edition of No Lights No Lycra, our typically decade-hopping dance party in the dark (though music from that decade often gets play). We can still remember when 80s nostalgia was as hot as 00s nostalgia is now…oh wait it was IN the 00s. Also a reminder we recently curated a very indie-centric playlist of new music that we love, featuring some Texan bands whose newest albums are out soon.

If you like visual arts, this weekend is your toy box. the Affordable Art Fair is coming to Austin for the first time. (To be clear, it is “affordable” in the loosest sense of the word; nonetheless, it will be full of contemporary art to admire even if you’re not spending the dough to take any of it home with you.) Perhaps in response to the Affordable Art Fair, six of Austin’s best local artist collectives + studios are banding together for a weekend-long art sale (at which the top price permitted will be 5% of the top price permitted at the Affordable Art Fair).

Are movies more your speed? You can check out films by Latinx filmmakers, local filmmakers, movies on a lake + about wars for independence, silent vampires, + Lovecraftian mermaids. We’ve also got fetish dance parties, dance parties w/neon artists + art cars, DJs spinning music from the 00s, and other DJs spinning music specifically from NYC in the 00s.

Not enough? Let’s play a word association game where I say a phrase, then you say what comes to your mind click on that phrase and surf the interwebs. Ready? Puppets. Small-town Texas UFOs. Brass bands. Cockroaches. Dancers making mistakes. Fire dancers. LED aerialists. Sensing electric fields. Adolescent angst. Charlies Angels but they’re all actually the cast of the Golden Girls. The post-apocalyptic world of the Fallout games/TV show. Scroll down for details on all these events and more.

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 for a special all-80s edition! We’ll have all kinds of music from the decade, ranging from anthemic cheese, to classic new wave and post-punk, to lesser-known yet still exceedingly 80s-sounding moments of the decade. Wondering what NLNL tends to sound like? Listen to Brian Blackout’s DJ set from the last edition here, or scroll down for more info.

On No Humans Allowed, Brian took to the roads this week with a radio show full of songs perfect to listen to while you’re driving around, whether purposefully or aimlessly. Stream Autonomous from the Kpiss archives here or scroll down for the tracklist. NHA broadcasts live 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 5/17

  • Fallout ATX at Elysium
    Celebrate the world of Fallout w/games, DJ, photobooth + Nuka Cola bevs
  • Good Pollution Cassette Release at the Museum of Human Achievement
    Live music, puppets, + “beloved drag clown embarrassment artist”
  • Body Mechanics at 4211 Todd Lane
    DJs happily blurring the lines between a dance party + a fetish party
  • Saltburn Rave at Cheer Up Charlie’s
    A great excuse to dance to indie + pop hits of the 00s
  • Flourish at Capital Venue
    Performances by fire spinners, aerialists, + acrobats wielding LED props
  • Electric Fuel Station at Carson Creek Ranch
    Charity music fest w/DJs, live electronic music, neon artists, art cars
  • Charlie’s Golden Girls at Butterfly Bar
    The Charlies Angels / Golden Girls mashup theatre performance of your dreams
  • Affordable Art Fair at the Palmer Events Center
    A large-scale art fair focusing on affordable art pieces for sale
  • Aurora at the Paper Plate Gallery
    A DIY play mixing small-town Texas life and UFOs
  • Moonfall at dadaLab
    “Immersive + interactive mythic fantasy ballet”
  • False Starts, Falls, Fouls at the Vortex
    Modern dancers create a performance themed around making mistakes
  • Cine Las Americas Film Festival at AFS + other locations
    View films of all kinds made by Latinx filmmakers from Texas + beyond
  • (weekly) Local Films Showcase at We Luv Video
    Watch a series of short flicks made by local filmmakers

Saturday 5/18

  • Cirque Vida at Radio East
    Radio-themed circus arts by aerialists, contortionists, + acrobats
  • Block Party at Givens Ave.
    DJ, bouncy house, historic tours, + info on preserving Austin
  • Mortified at the Highball
    Folks tell tales of adolescent angst in a new comedic light
  • Austin Homes’ Great Outdoors Tour at The Great Outdoors
    Check out what folks have done w/their domestic outdoor spaces
  • CelebrASIA at the Asian American Resource Center
    Celebrate AAPI heritage month w/AR, food, lots of traditional dance, + hula
  • Nosferatu at We Luv Video
    Watch the first silent horror flick w/live score + narration
  • Blowcommotion’s HONK! Fundraiser at Kenny Dorham’s Backyard
    Like a mini-HONK!, w/brass bands, DJ, vendors, photo booth
  • Dance Walk at Casa de Luz
    “Live out your MTV music video fantasy” by walking + dancing
  • Acton Children’s Business Fair at the Lakeline Mall
    Support kids who are learning entrepreneurship + making businesses
  • Electric Fuel Station at Carson Creek Ranch
    Charity music fest w/DJs, live electronic music, neon artists, art cars
  • Flourish at Capital Venue
    Performances by fire spinners, aerialists, + acrobats wielding LED props
  • Local Art Sale at artists’ studios throughout Austin
    Affordable local art on sale from an all-star cast of local art spots
  • Charlie’s Golden Girls at Butterfly Bar
    The Charlies Angels / Golden Girls mashup theatre performance of your dreams
  • Affordable Art Fair at the Palmer Events Center
    A large-scale art fair focusing on affordable art pieces for sale
  • Aurora at the Paper Plate Gallery
    A DIY play mixing small-town Texas life and UFOs
  • Moonfall at dadaLab
    “Immersive + interactive mythic fantasy ballet”
  • False Starts, Falls, Fouls at the Vortex
    Modern dancers create a performance themed around making mistakes
  • Cine Las Americas Film Festival at AFS + other locations
    View films of all kinds made by Latinx filmmakers from Texas + beyond
  • (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 5/19

Monday 5/20

  • (weekly) Hyperreal Film Club at Hotel Vegas
    Watch a Lovecraftian horror film from 2001 about terrifying mermaids

Tuesday 5/21

  • Les Dames Austin Pepper Palooza at 1417 Bistro
    “A global exploration of peppers among cultures”
  • Astronomy on Tap at Celis Brewery
    Gather and talk astronomy while imbibing beverages
  • Odd World at We Luv Video
    “Do you love cockroaches, singing, Jerry O’Connell, 90’s MTV, + grunge?”

Wednesday 5/22

  • Taste of Mexico at Republic Square
    Mexican food, mariachis, DJ, dancers, screen printing, + Loteria
  • Collage and Connect at Riches Art
    Learn collage making + practice mindfulness at the same time
  • The Battle of Algiers at Motion Media Arts Center
    Watch an acclaimed 1960s film about the war for Algerian independence
  • Charlie’s Golden Girls at Butterfly Bar
    The Charlies Angels / Golden Girls mashup theatre performance of your dreams

Thursday 5/23

  • No Lights No Lycra at West China Tea
    Our own dance party in the dark w/music from DJ Brian Blackout
  • Queer to Tell at the Soundspace at Captain Quack’s
    “Queer Stories told by Queer People in Queer Businesses in Queer Austin”
  • Top Gun on the Lake at Mozart’s Coffee
    Watch the classic 80s summer flick aboard a paddle boat
  • Meet Me in the Bathroom Again at Howard’s
    DJ spinning NYC-infused 00s indie music
  • Kaleidoscope at KMFA
    Modern dance focusing on color + works by living composers
  • ATX Sketch Fest at Coldtowne
    A multi-day celebration of sketch comedy

No Humans Allowed 191
Autonomous

We’re back with a mix of summery italo, electro, + indie synth music perfect for driving around some reticulated splines, or just your local roadway. Switch your automobile into self-driving and crank up the Golden Stream.

Stream Autonomous

Tracklist
Johnny Dynamite and the Bloodsuckers – Triflin’ Kids
Bonnie & Klein – Notes from the Road
Special Touch – It’s Your Life
Isabelle Antena – Laying on the Sofa
Holy Wire – Twenty Six
De Lux – Dancing Is Dangerous in Los Angeles
RFX – Lock the Program
Nina & Ricky Wilde – LA Dreamers (Initial Talk Remix)
Grand Prix – Cruisin
Asa Moto – Kifesh
Cyber People – Void Vision
Yung Bae – Body Talk ft. Mayer Hawthorne
On Line – Gell?! (Hysteric Edit)

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 nearly 200 episodes now streamable in the archives on topics like and Beach Simulations, Roomba dance parties, undersea adventures + Cyber Texas.

No Lights No Lycra ATX 167
w/Brian Blackout

Recorded live in the dark at West China Tea House on May 9, 2024.

Listen to No Lights No Lycra 167

Tracklist
Joe Bataan – Call My Name
John Forde – Atlantis
Marvin Gaye – What’s Going on (Cole Medina Rework)
Rudy Norman – Back to the Streets (Flying Burrito Bros Refrito)
Sebastian – Love in Motion
Thin Lizzy – Johnny the Fox
Scissor Sisters – I Don’t Feel Like Dancing
Destiny’s Child – Lose My Breath (Initial Talk Remix)
Róisín Murphy – Something More (Soulwax Remix)
The Who – Baba O’Reilly (717 Boys Edit)
LCD Soundsystem – Tonite
O. Wake – Riper Than Ripe
A-ha – Take on Me
The Cure – Just Like Heaven
Oppenheimer Analysis – Don’t Be Seen with Me
Psymon Spine – Channels
Hot Hot Heat – Talk to Me, Dance with Me
Foster the People – Helena Beat (Build Remix)
Chilly Gonzales – You Can Dance
Daft Punk – Digital Love
Maxxi Soundystem – Criticize
Ariana Grande – Yes, and ?
Breakbot – 1 out of 2 (Oliver Remix)
Jamiroquai – Canned Heat
Home – All at Once

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.

SEE YOU NEXT WEEK, CHAMPIONS

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