Lite + Brite: 41 Equinoctial Austin Events 3/20
Hello, what’s up, and welcome to the Lite + Brite newsletter.
SXSW is behind us, but if you thought that would mean a quiet week, you can THINK AGAIN, BUCKO. (Sorry, that was rude. Didn’t mean to call you “bucko.”) Middle-schoolers are telling stories in bars. Skaters are performing music in convenience stores. One thousand Nic Cages are descending upon our city. Llora is making hand pies. What do any of these sentences mean? You tell us!
Also this week you can bike to important sites in Austin’s queer history and Black history; learn about astronomy or jetpacks or recent state legislation or AI (but not in a bro-y way); dance to darkwave or goth or techno or South Asian pop; celebrate the Spring Equinox with tarot or costumed figure drawing or a pagan cult, and of COURSE come to No Lights No Lycra, the dance party in the dark hosted by your favorite Austin newsletter writers (us).
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
After taking early March off to do our collaboration with Art Island, we’re back doing No Lights No Lycra at 3rd Eye Meditation Lounge this coming Wednesday. We’ll flip the lights off + dance to some classics as well as some of the bands we caught last week at SxSW. You can get tickets here, or scroll down to hear a playlist of a previous edition of NLNL.
Brian was back this week doing No Humans Allowed, his radio show on Kpss.fm. He played an hour playing some of the synth-wielding bands we saw at SxSW, from Australian acts like Radio Free Alice + Confidence Man to Austin locals like Modernform + Urban Heat. You can stream SxSW 2025 in the Kpiss archives, or catch No Humans Allowed live on Tuesdays at 6pm.
DoMORE
// A true statement paid for by the sponsor of this week’s newsletter. //
We’ve been finding events through Do512 and other DoStuff sites for years. We appreciate their work so much that we’ve officially joined their membership program, DoMORE. What this means is that every few weeks DoStuff sends us a curated list of upcoming local events, and we can claim a pair of free tickets to any one of them. We recently used our DoMORE membership to see Holy Wire at Chess Club. There was so much synthesizer! We didn’t pay for any of it!
If you, too, would like to regularly do fun stuff for free, you can also become a DoMORE member. It’s $7/month, and you can cancel anytime (like at whatever point you no longer like doing fun stuff for free, I guess). If you want to try it out, this link gives you a week-long free trial.
We always say that we do L+B for people who enjoy “listening to music and leaving the house sometimes.” What’s great about DoMORE is that it makes it easier for folks to do exactly that.
// Do you want to sponsor an upcoming issue of this newsletter? Email us for our ad rates! //
EVENTS WE’RE EYEING
Thursday 3/20
- Fusebox Artist Salon at dadaLab
Works by artists who fuse music, tech, sculpture, + live performance - Just Kidding at Trinity St. Playhouse
Equinoctial variety show w/drag, ballet, comedy, film, + more - Latte Art Throwdown at Radio Rosewood
Spectate or enter into a latte art contest for prizes - Records to Read To at Carpenter Coffee Bar
Co-reading set to author-curated records + drinks - Astronomy Uncorked at C.L. Butaud
Learn astronomy + exoplanets while surrounded by wine - Queer Film Theory 101 at the Highball
“Basically, we ruin films for straight people + yell about the characters that made us feel gay” - NOWISWHENWEARE at the McCullough Theatre
Immersive art installation full of thousands of points of light + sound
Friday 3/21
- Spring Equinox at Jester King
Watch a creepy springtime flick outdoors w/yr refermented cherry beer - Pre-Skate Fest at Alienated Majesty + Friendly Rio Mart
Live music alternating between a book + convenience store, plus glizzy delights - Equinox Party at a secret location
Draw or dress up for costumed equinoctial figure drawing - Flowers + Friends at Cheri Coffee + Flowers
Flower arrangements, drinks, + friendly floral-inspired art of all kinds - Body Mechanics at 4211 Todd Ln.
DJs happily blurring the lines between a dance party + a fetish party - NOWISWHENWEARE at the McCullough Theatre
Immersive art installation full of thousands of points of light + sound
Saturday 3/22
- Shadowrun at Tiny Minotaur
Dress up in cyberpunk attire while DJs spin futuristic goth tunes - Hyde Park Storytelling at Batch Craft Beer
Adult + middle school-aged storytellers ply their trade w/ASL interpreter - Day of Dance at Asian American Resource Center
Engage in dances from across the world w/varying energy levels - Queer Austin Bike Tour at Texas French Bread
Learn about Austin’s LGBTQ+ history from your bike’s saddle - Banff Mountain Film Festival at the Paramount
Watch outdoor adventure films to raise money for Texas parks - My Dear Skeleton at Ivester Contemporary
One woman show w/puppetry, wild skeletonish visuals - Darkwave Disko at Elysium
DJs spinning dark synth genres AND italo disco! <3 <3 <3 - Spring Equinox at Aurora House
Celebrate the equinox w/tarot, art, breath + sound ceremonies - Texas Roller Girls at the Austin Sports Center
Season opener w/“Honky Tonk Heartbreakers” vs Hustlers - Hand Pies by Llora at Community Garden
Food by Dallas musician Llora + DJing by Me Mer Mo associated folks - Black History Bike Ride at the Carver Museum
Discover landmarks in Austin’s Black history by bike - PowerPints at the Highball
“Drink + learn things” at comedic talks on a variety of esoteric topics - Opening Hours at the Sherwood Forest Zine Library
Read from Sherwood Forest’s extensive library of zines - NOWISWHENWEARE at the McCullough Theatre
Immersive art installation full of thousands of points of light + sound - (weekly thru 3/29) Overheard on a Train on the Red Line
Participate in immersive theatre while enjoying public transit - (weekly thru 4/20) Sherwood Forest Faire
Central Texas’ renaissance faire w/medieval food, arts, fun, + dress - (weekly thru 5/31) Doom Metal Goat Yoga at Jester King
“We call out to the beasts of the land to come forth and JOIN US!”
Sunday 3/23
- AusPop Sunday Salon at 1105 Nueces
See vintage ephemera from Austin’s musical past + discuss Antone’s - Say That! at the Rosette
Artists sing, dance, + more, then discuss queer art in activism - Nowruz Festival at Central Market North
Annual Persian New Year celebration w/henna, live bands, traditional fare - (weekly thru 4/20) Sherwood Forest Faire
Central Texas’ renaissance faire w/medieval food, arts, fun, + dress
Tuesday 3/25
- The Austin Salon at 1109 Angelina St.
Discussions about whether we’re better off with or without AI - LegiSLAYtion + Liberation at Oil Can Harry’s
Learn about current state gov dealings via drag, laughs, + bingo - Show Tune Open Mic Night at Birdhouse Books
Showtune karaoke inspired by books, also in a bookstore - Silent Book Club at Radio East
Silently read books together + optional sharing
Wednesday 3/26
- No Lights No Lycra at 3rd Eye Meditation Lounge
Dance in the dark to our favorite tunes w/Lite+Brite - Sonic Spell at Tiny Minotaur
DJ spinning darkwave + italo at Tiny Minotaur’s weekly synth party
Thursday 3/27
- Night of 1000 Nic Cages at Elysium
Gender diverse drag kings “uncage” the many faces of Nic Cage - No One Is Watching at Wanderlust Wine
Immersive theater touches on dystopian AI, surveillance, + resistance - Visions at Propaganda HQ
“Night of untamed desire” w/‘poetry, storytelling, burlesque, music, + visual art” - Nerd Nite at Barrel O’ Fun
Hear nerdy high-caliber talks on tech’s dark side
No Humans Allowed 227
South by Southwest 2025
The latest edition of an annual No Humans Allowed tradition is our post-South by Southwest show. We spent the hour listening a few of the more synth-oriented highlights of the festival.
Stream South by Southwest 2025
Tracklist
Steef – At L Ant Is
Fantasy of a Broken Heart – Ur Heart Stops
Radio Free Alice – Johnny
Two-Man Giant Squid – I Was a DJ in 2015
Confidence Man – 3AM (La La La)
CDSM – This Is My New Hell
Kučka – Heavyweight
Spike Hellis – Slices
Slash Need – Border Town
Urban Heat – Sanitizer
Night Drive – Vultures
Buddy Crime – My Disco
Holy Fuck – Lost Cool (w/Lucia Tacchetti)
Levin Goes Lightly – Headbanging
Modernform – Hourglass
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 179
w/Brian Blackout
Recorded live in the dark in 3rd Eye Meditation Lounge on February 12th, 2025
Listen to NLNL ATX 179 on Mixcloud
Tracklist
Airbird – Trust
The Paradise – In Love with You
Midnight Star – Midas Touch (CFCF Remix)
Nude Disco – Remind Me of U
Diana Ross – Love Hangover (DJ Apt One Edit)
Charli xcx – Boom Clap (Aeroplane Remix)
Tamiko Jones – Can’t Live Without Your Love
Stevie Wonder – Do I Do (U-Tern Edit)
Conway & Temple – Love Lights (Young Pulse Rework)
Crystal Waters – 100% Pure Love
Whitney Houston – Love Will Save the Day
Aroop Roy – Save Our Love
The Source – You’ve Got the Love ft. Candi Staton
Heavy D & the Boyz – Now That We Found Love
Stardust – Music Sounds Better with You
Cut Copy – Saturdays
The Presets – This Boys in Love (Lifelike Remix)
Fleetwood Mac – You Make Loving Fun (Trailmix Remix)
The Outfield – Your Love (DiscoTech Remix)
The Monroes – What Do All the People Know?
The Cure – Just Like Heaven
Prince and the Revolution – I Would Die 4 U
Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell – Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
Home – All at Once
Mayer Hawthorne – Green Eyed Love (Classixx Remix)
Electric Light Orchestra – Letter from Spain
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 Molly Fonseca, 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 seeing 75 bands at SXSW, DJing and co-hosting a party at the Sapien Center, and building a giant Lite Brite in our backyard. 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.