Lite + Brite: 47 Atomic Austin Events 2/7
Hello, what’s up, and welcome to the Lite + Brite newsletter.
If you consider yourself to be a “gal,” then have we got the week for you! Celebrate Galentine’s Day with palm readings, BFF tattoos, pal portraits, Bridgerton dress-up, crafting, book swaps, bridesmaid dresses, and plenty of other gal-ful fun. (Might we note that dancing in the dark is one of the absolute MOST fun ways to observe this “holiday”?)
Inspired by Galentine’s fervor, we have imagined a few alternatives over on our new Bluesky, including Pascalentine’s Day, Canalentine’s Day, + the OK Corrallentine’s Day. Surely there are more.
In non-gal-specific events, this week also brings to town a multimedia DIY performance about the “parallel journey of moths and humans,” an afternoon of site-specific short plays in a communal living compound, a “psychedelic cartoon-colored fever dream” with carrots, a troglodyte jug band, ACOTAR-themed wrestling, emo puppetry, and a pro-cryptid choral performance. Scroll down for details on all this and more.
Also: SXSW resident wristbands are finally available! This week music wristbands are $50 off with the coupon code “spurs99.” Good deal.
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
Belle and Sebastian is one of our favorite bands. (True story: L+B HQ has not one, not two, but THREE framed Belle and Sebastian posters adorning its walls.) So naturally Leila was delighted to interview B+S lead singer Stuart Murdoch for the Austin Chronicle. Murdoch will be coming to the State Theatre next week to promote his debut novel—find out more about the book and the event by reading Leila’s article.
We are back doing No Lights No Lycra this coming Wednesday at Third Eye, where we’ll be getting into the *-alentine’s spirit dancing to a selection of love songs + crush songs . You can get tickets here, and if you’d like to listen to the last NLNL just keep on scrolling.
No Humans Allowed cover the opposite of love this week, which is lust, featuring some Belgian techno songs about rough sex, italo disco songs about making love on trains, and other electronic sundries about obsession, fantasy, love, and uh, childbirth? Stream Lust Will Save the Day here on the Kpiss archives, and tune into No Humans Allowed live on Tuesdays at 6pm central.
EVENTS WE’RE EYEING
Friday 2/7
- Winterfell Night at Tiny Minotaur
GoT-inspired cosplay, photobooth, live music, + snow machine(!) - The 24 Carrot Show at Kick Butt Coffee
“Satirical, sex-positive clownery,” burlesque, + lots of carrots - Printmakers Ball at Blue Genie
Fundraiser w/art prints, live marching bands, beer, + pizza - Shock Therapy at Elysium
“Anti-love” drag night inspired by shoegaze + bloody horror - Night Market at Buzz Mill
Vendors, “hobo ballads, goblin stomps, + troll-ish musical novelties” - Mythos at ArtUs Co
See mythology-inspired art, cosplay as a god or goddess - Opun Mic Night at Coldtowne
Take the stage w/puns, improv, + other forms of comedy - Subculture Swap at Double Trouble
Watch a classic Lynchian romance, swap + buy from vendors - (weekly thru 2/21) Hell Is These Four People at the Hideout
Existential improvisers tackle Sartre and the afterlife
Saturday 2/8
- Mi Casa Es Su Teatro at Mishpocha Woods Compound
Theatrical performances in people’s homes + “other surprising locales” - The Moth Experience at the Long Center
Musical + multimedia performers tell stories about/inspired by moths - A Court of Drag and Dropkicks at Highland Lounge
“All-inclusive professional wrestling w/a side of drag” - Cirque Delecta at Sterling Stage
Variety acts “from Burlesque to Pole to Clown + Circus Arts” - Community Day at ACL Live
Get a tour of the inner workings of ACL Live + live music, food - Atomic Cafe Reunion at Elysium
Reunion dance party for goth + 80s venue from Austin’s past - Word Reveal at Taos Co-op
Metallic fashion-themed party to celebrate magazine launch w/DJs - Galentine’s Day Gala at Bobo’s Snack Bar
Wedding attire + vintage formalware, vinyl DJ, tarot, + vendors - Water Lantern Festival at Lake Pflugerville Park
Send messages on the lake in water lanterns, + add’l family activities - Pirate Night at Tiny Minotaur
Arr-rated party w/pirate costumes, live band (presumably sea shanty-ing) - Texas Roller Derby at the Travis County Expo Center
Roller derbyists murderously crash their way through a banked track - Anti-Valentine’s Burlesque Show at Come and Take It Live
Coming of age-themed traditional burlesque performers - The Rocky Horror Picture Show at We Luv Video
Rocky Horror the way it was intended: w/shadow cast, props, + participation - Body Mechanics at 4211 Todd Ln.
DJs happily blurring the lines between a dance party + a fetish party - Open Studios at Good Dad
Austin’s finest artist cubicles open up just for you - Frontera Fest Best of the Week at Hyde Park Theatre
“Alternative, offbeat, new, and just plain off-the-wall fringe theatre” - PrintEXPO at Blue Genie
Buy + view art by a wide array of printmakers - (weekly thru 3/1) The Rose at Coldtowne
Annual improv show parodying reality romance TV
Sunday 2/9
- Drunk Tarot at Captain Quack’s Soundspace
Get your tarot reading in front of an audience, drunkenly - Campfire Queer Storytime at the Vortex
Queer storytelling + live readings for those aged 18-110 - PrintEXPO at Blue Genie
Buy + view art by a wide array of printmakers
Monday 2/10
- Roller Rodeo Disco at Pins + Wheels at Playland
Rollerskate to your favorite country + disco w/the Neon Rainbows crew - Valentine’s Card Party at Bottega
Roll your own linoprinted Galetine’s cards, + DJ, snacks n bevs
Tuesday 2/11
- Frontera Fest Best of the Fest at Hyde Park Theatre
“Alternative, offbeat, new, and just plain off-the-wall fringe theatre”
Wednesday 2/12
- No Lights No Lycra at 3rd Eye Meditation Lounge
Dance in the dark w/L+B to some of our favorite love songs - The Austin Salon at 1109 Angelina St.
Discussions w/UT prof on the biological mechanics behind love - Fragile Rock at Hotel Vegas
Watch puppets perform emo live, make your own puppets, or sadness - Rooftop Sessions at the Contemporary
Party on the roof w/art, DJ + live music performed by people in clown costumes - Frontera Fest Best of the Fest at Hyde Park Theatre
“Alternative, offbeat, new, and just plain off-the-wall fringe theatre”
Thursday 2/13
- Lore at Central Machine Works
Choral performances “celebrating cryptids, critters, and folklore” - Galentine’s Day at Remedy
Gals gather for friendship bracelets, book swaps, waffles, + compliments - Glamp Glamp at Lynny’s
“Hearts + farts”-themed “queer performative weirdness” a la camp talent shows - Crafty Happy Hour at Make at Rosie
Gal-celebrating crafting w/adult beverages, supplies, + laser cutters - Galentine’s Day at Shangri-La
Get gal-y w/DJ, tattoos, photobooth, live portraiture, + Bridgerton dress theme - Friends Over Lovers at Hotel San Jose
The real Valentine was the friends we made along the way - Palabras Desnudas at Spiderhouse Ballroom
Burlesque performances + poetry recitations team up for steamy results - Galentine’s Day at Mohawk
“Don’t Text Your Ex tarot card readings,” ex-themed karaoke, + BFF tats - That’s My Face at the Carver Center
Watch a romantic film + support Black representation in cinema - Galantine’s Day at Vacancy Brewing
All-gal vendor market, heart-shaped pizza, “lip gloss charm bar,” + more - Star-Crossed at Saengerrunde Hall
Enjoy beer, wine, + pastries while string quartet plays romantic tunes - Frontera Fest Best of the Fest at Hyde Park Theatre
“Alternative, offbeat, new, and just plain off-the-wall fringe theatre”
No Humans Allowed 222
Lust Will Save the Day
It’s getting a little too hot in our studio. This week’s show is filled with nympho electro, steamy italo, + a collage of lustful synethesizer-laden soundscapes from bygone eras. Just 0 cents for the first minute and just 0 cents for every minute afterwards.
Tracklist
RFX – Jungle Frenzy
Tupperwave – Hooked on Aesthetics
Lords of Acid – Rough Sex
Zee – Madness (Orion Agassi Edit)
Bottin – Y.A.M.L.
Decius – I Gave Birth 2 U
Felix da Housecat – What Does It Feel Like (Røyksöpp Remix)
Nadia Cassini – Obsessed (Bell Towers Rework)
Haywire – Let Me Be Your Fantasy
Double Sex – Love Train (Hysteric Edit)
Tracy & the Plastics – Henrietta
Chicks on Speed – Kaltes Klares Wasser
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 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 178
w/Brian Blackout
Recorded live in the dark at 3rd Eye Meditation Lounge on January 22nd, 2025
Listen to NLNL ATX 178 on Mixcloud
Tracklist
Andrew Gordon – Walking the Lonely Streets
Queen – Cool Cat (V4YS Edit)
Fern Kinney – Baby Let Me Kiss You
Shabba Ranks – Mr Loverman
Sade – When Am I Going to Make a Living (Poolside Edit)
Ace of Base – All That She Wants
Missy Elliott – Work It
Ten Fé – Twist Your Arm (Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas Remix)
Bonnie Tyler – Married Man (Lauren Murada Edit)
Justin TImberlake – My Love (DFA Remix)
Psymon Spine – Wizard Acid
James Brown – Get up offa That Thing / Release the Pressure
Les Sins – Why
Cassie – Me & U (Eli Escobar Remix)
O. Wake – Riper than Ripe
Black Light Smoke – Girls Dance with Computer
La Roux – Bulletproof
The Presets – This Boy’s in Love (Lifelike Remix)
Pnau – Embrace ft. Ladyhawke
Technotronic – Pump up the Jam
The Movement – Jump (Mutha Mix)
Nelly Furtado – Maneater
Blur – Song 2
Pixies – Debaser
The La’s – There She Goes
Home – All at Once
Joël Fajerman – Plage de Lune
Baron Zen – Burn Rubber (Dâm Funk Remix)
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 it in the Austin Chronicle. You can listen to the kind of music we play over on Brian’s Mixcloud.
PATREON THANKS
A huge thank-you to our Patreon subscribers Lilly Ettinger, Michael Sales, Zach, Gino Scaramuzza, Erica Speegle, Jarrett Holtz, Thomas Refferson, Dale Markowitz, Bones Malones, Amy Hayes, Katie Green, Christina Jue, Colleen MB, Lena Long, Amalia Litsa, Alexander Freed, 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 enjoying 1-800-CLOWN-TOWN at Kick Butt Coffee, exploring Mesmerize, and experiencing the 37th Street Lights. Follow Lite + Brite on Instagram to keep up with our adventures. We’re now on Bluesky too. Yay federation! 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, Concept Animals’ ATX Art for You for gallery openings + artist talks, 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, + 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.