Lite + Brite: 31 Lowriding Austin Events 7/5

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

Hope everyone’s not too hungover from whatever patriotism you consumed last night. Now we simply have to contend with triple-digit temps, runaway hurricanes, and doomscrolling. If you’ve still got some pep in your step we’ve got some events to let you know about.

This week will mark the end of more than five years of No Lights No Lycra at West China Tea House. We have some things in the works, but they’ll take time, so if you want to dance in the dark, this Thursday is your best chance. 
Speaking of finality, Velvet Coffin’s last event, a celebration of Krampus in July, is also happening this week. Beyond that, we’ve got Buffy and Shakespeare-themed aerialists, skewered Star Wars, Star Wars vs Star Trek, drag performers dressing up as recent cartoon characters, fantasy-costumed karaoke, lowrider cruises, holy water wet T-shirt contests, semi-nude scifi readings, + xenopoetics. Even on a week after a holiday, there’s plenty to go around.

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 Thursday will be our final No Lights No Lycra at West China Tea House (its original location). West China has been a super supportive and at times magical space for our dance thing in the dark, but highway expansion is forcing us to say goodbye to the space. Help us celebrate this milestone and watch this space for more on what we’re doing next. If you want to hear how it usually sounds you can listen to a recording of it here or scroll down for a track listing. We’re not ending the party, only moving it, and we’ll have more to say on where the event moves to in time but for now this is the only NLNL that’s happening for a while so this is your best chance to go.

America was celebrated over on No Humans Allowed, Brian’s radio show for robots + smart devices. Various synth-laden American icons whizzed by while we ruminated on American topics like walking on the moon, being macho, censorship, and MIDI controllers. You can stream United Statelessness 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 7/5

  • Float Films at Austin Motel Pool
    Watch Top Gun (the original) while floating a pool w/themed cocktails
  • ¡Estar Guars! at the Scottish Rite Theater
    Latino sketch comedians mash up Star Wars with border walls & ICE troopers

Saturday 7/6

Sunday 7/7

  • Lowrider Cruise at Chicano Park
    A parade of lowriding cars will cruise over to a park cookout
  • Dyke Car Wash + Movie Night at the Museum of Human Achievement
    Your car or bike has never been cleaner, + enjoy “Lesbian Movie Screening” after
  • Sunday Masc at Cheer Up Charlie’s
    Drag kings hold “queermunion” + “holy water wet t-shirt contest”
  • Hysteria at Coldtowne
    An irreverent comedy show about abortion + benefit for repro rights
  • Public Art Tour at UT Campus
    Walk around UT’s campus + get a tour of public art there
  • Sundance Short Film Festival Tour at AFS
    Watch touring short films curated by the Sundance Film Festival
  • House Tour at Casa Neverlandia
    Get a tour of a unique Austin home + the cover of “Weird Homes”
  • ¡Estar Guars! at the Scottish Rite Theater
    Latino sketch comedians mash up Star Wars with border walls & ICE troopers
  • (weekly thru 7/21) Splash Dance at the Austin Motel
    Poolside aerobics with Austin’s most creative aerobics instructor

Monday 7/8

  • ATX Short Film Showcase at the Spider House Ballroom
    The films are short, the filmmakers are Texan + of varying heights
  • Silent Book Club at Lazarus Brewing
    Silently read books together + optional sharing
  • Classical Jam at Batch Craft Beer
    Like open mic night but for classical musicians + fans

Wednesday 7/10

Thursday 7/11

No Humans Allowed 197
United Statelessness

We celebrate all things America with a parade of American synth icons covering freedom of speech, freedom to consume, + freedom to listen to Bruce Springsteen.

Stream United Statelessness

Tracklist
Danzig / Drake – Mother / The Catch Up
Fatback – Is This the Future? (Chuggin Edit)
The Pool – Place in the Sun
Bruce Springsteen – Tougher than the Rest (Martin Vogel Edit)
Ford & Lopatin – Too Much MIDI (Please Forgive Me)
Midnight Star – Midas Touch
Donald Fagen – I.G.Y. (Lovebirds Rework)
Breakwater – Release the Beast
The Bar-Kays – Sexomatic (LeSale Edit)
Howard Johnson – Say You Wanna (Bicep Edit)
Arthur Russell – This Is How We Walk on the Moon (Youth Edit)
Stevie Wonder – Love Light in Flight (Sleazy McQueen 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 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.

SEE YOU NEXT WEEK, CHAMPIONS

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