Lite + Brite: 37 Smashing Austin Events 6/21
Hello, what’s up, and welcome to the Lite + Brite newsletter.
If we could fill this entire newsletter with Austin events featuring unlikely animals doing cute things, we probably would. This week, that would result in a single event listing: namely, pigs smashing watermelons. Or possibly two events, if you consider people dressed as zoo animals to fit the criteria.
Fortunately for you, we do not limit ourselves to animal events, which means we can also tell you about other worthy activities, like raving at City Hall and robbing trains. Also coming up are occasions to get wet at a hotel pool party, water aerobics, and a belly-flop contest. Hey, do you want to own some things that are similar to yet different from the things you already own? Swap music gear or crafting supplies. Attend Hyperreal Film Club’s very last screening in their Hotel Vegas residency. Meanwhile, Pride continues with storytelling, variety shows, local makers, horror, crafting, ballroom, and every other medium you can think of. Scroll down for details on all this and more.
What are you listening to while you engage in these summer shenanigans? Is it our collaborative summer playlist? Cool, glad to hear it. Is our collaborative summer playlist still missing your personal Song of the Summer? Don’t let that happen; add your pick today!
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
This week No Humans Allowed, Brian’s synth-addled radio show, featured a chaotic mix of synthesizer-laden weirdness. Slo-mo boogie, library madness, Eskimo disco, 303s overflowing their limits + spilling acid burbles all over the place. You can stream Hallucinating from the Kpiss archives here or scroll down for the tracklist. NHA broadcasts live every Wednesday at 6pm CT on kpiss.fm.
Lite + Brite’s dance party in the dark, No Lights No Lycra, happened last week, and you can listen to a recording of it here or scroll down for a track listing. We’ll be hosting one more NLNL at West China Tea House next month on July 11th. After that, we’re not sure where it’ll be happening next but we’ll put the info here when we know more.
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 6/21
- Art Island’s Solstice Soiree at Estelle’s
Celebrate our buddy the Sun w/3 floors of DJs, costumed performers + vendors - Flourish Art Show + Zine Release at Motion Media Arts Center
Celebrate the release of an art zine featuring the work of Austin artists - The Zoo at Empire Control Room
Animalistic dance party featuring DJs, costumes + face painting - Get Lost Together at Shop Slow
Learn how to express yourself through collaging + poetry - A Night of Queer Horror at Eastside Cinema
Watch a queer horror film w/M83 soundtrack + raise money - Grand Re-Opening Party at Clover and Maven
DJs, free drinks, raffle, tattoos, + food trucks
Saturday 6/22
- Watermelon Smash Bash at Central Texas Pig Rescue
Feed watermelons + fruit to awfully appreciative piggies - Party at the People’s House at City Hall
Celebrate diversity in Austin w/food, art activities, vendors, + live music - Fight Opera at Austin Beerworks – Sprinkle Valley
Train-themed pro-wrestling that’s heavy on the lore + ridiculousness - The Majestic Ball at the Paramount
Ballroom + drag performers work the runway at a circus-themed party - Rolling Rave meeting at the State Capitol
Cycle along through Austin’s streets w/wheeled DJs - Black History Social Ride + Block Party meeting at the State Capitol
Explore the history of Austin’s Black community by bicycle - Rite of Passage at Dadalab
“Soothing ambient + experimental tunes paired with thoughtfully curated visuals” - TheleMagick: Disco Inferno at Cheer Up Charlie’s
Monstrous disco-themed DJs, Drag, burlesque + boylesque performers - Omakase Vinyl – Kate Bush at the Equipment Room
“Guided listening experience” of classic Kate Bush albums - Totally Wired at Drinks Lounge
Vinyl DJs spinning a mix of punk, glam, mod + soul - Belly Flop Contest at Little Woodrow’s Southpark Meadows
Flopping contestants make a splash for a cash prize - Haunt Summer Nights at We Luv Video
Paranormal podcasters host a ghostly horror flick - Juneteenth Bike Ride + BBQ at Parque Zaragoza
Commemorate Juneteenth belatedly by cycling to the park + cooking out - Sunset Party on Snake Island
Ferry over to an island on Lady Bird Lake for leave-no-trace partying - Music Gear Swap Meet at Knomad Bar
Swap / trade / upgrade your musical gear - It Can’t Rain All the Time at Swan Dive
A dance party themed around the Crow soundtrack - The Jigglewatts Burlesque Revue at the Ballroom @ Spider House
Classic burlesque performances + comedy and variety acts - Opening Hours at the Sherwood Forest Zine Library
Read from Sherwood Forest’s extensive library of zines
Sunday 6/23
- Pride Party at Distribution Hall
Pride-themed maker market w/vendors, free drinks - The Addams Family Sip + Shop at the Velvet Casket
Watch Addams Family films + costume contest, auction, vendors - (weekly thru 7/21) Splash Dance at the Austin Motel
Poolside aerobics with Austin’s most creative aerobics instructor
Monday 6/24
- Hyperreal Film Club at Hotel Vegas
Watch Bob Fosse-directed film in final Hyperreal event @ Vegas - Camera Obscura at the Vortex
Showcase for narrative films by Texan filmmakers + Q&A
Tuesday 6/25
- Crafting Queerly at CRAFT
Supplies-included queer-friendly crafting event - Silent Book Club at Cosmic Saltillo
Silently read books together + optional sharing
Wednesday 6/26
- Juneteenth Pride at Cheer Up Charlie’s
Rescheduled combo Juneteenth/Pride party w/DJs, drag + ballroom performers - Greetings from Queer Mountain at Cheer Up Charlie’s
“Free LGBTQ Storytelling Showcase” + ASL interpreter - Austin Asian American Film Festival at AFS
Fest that “highlights new Asian and Asian American film”
Thursday 6/27
- Community Craft Swap at Make at Rosie
Offload or acquire crafting supplies for your next project - Rocket Cinema Listening Party at Cloud Tree Auxiliary
Hear music in a sound bath-style atmosphere of comfortable meditative surroundings - Swim Session at the Line Hotel
Poolside DJ party w/tacos + art installation - Austin Asian American Film Festival at AFS
Fest that “highlights new Asian and Asian American film”
No Humans Allowed 196
Hallucinating
On this episode we’ve got a wild array of synth chaos. Slo-mo boogie, library madness, Eskimo disco, 303s overflowing their limits + spilling acid burbles all over the place. Buckle up + get ready to hallucinate.
Tracklist
Sneak E. – Land of Stuphph
Vangelis – See You Later (Lovefingers Edit)
Gigi Flag – Nymphomaniac (Boys from Patagonia Edit)
Bot’Ox – 2.4.1
Saint Pepsi – Look at the Dog
The Residents – Smack Your Lips (Clap Your Teeth)
Charanjit Singh – Raga Madhuvanti
Quantum Jump – The Lone Ranger
Glass Candy – Covered in Bugs
Power, Wonder & Love – Afro Acid (remix)
B.T.B. – Bad Base
Blank Banshee – Visualization
Johnny Chingas – Phone Home (instrumental)
Cosmo Vitelli – Edit Service 3
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 169
w/Brian Blackout
Recorded live in the dark at West China Tea House on June 13, 2024.
Listen to No Lights No Lycra 169
Tracklist
Duett – Lifestyle
Vektroid – Calm
Fern Kinney – Baby Let Me Kiss You
Airbird & Napolian – In the Zone ft. Erika Spring
Warren G – Regulate (Jamming Remix)
Tupperwave – Make It Be Summer
Velella Velella – Brass Ass
Men Without Hats – Safety Dance (Italo Brutalo Edit)
Taylor Swift – Lavender Haze (Pepsi Sine Rework)
The Phenomenal Handclap Band – Do What You Like
Bee Gees – Night Fever
Sophie Ellis Bextor – Murder on the Dancefloor
Tatsuro Yamashita – Silent Screamer (Max Mason & Nayla Rework)
Talking Heads – Girlfriend Is Better (Bit Funk Edit)
CeCe Peniston – We Got a Love Thang
New Love Ltd & Interstate 95 – So Much to Talk about (Tudo Bem) (Chuggin Edit)
The Juan Maclean – Happy House
LCD Soundsytem – Losing My Edge
The Rapture – House of Jealous Lovers
David Bowie – Rebel Rebel
The Killers – Mr. Brightside
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.