Lite + Brite: 32 Swampy Austin Events 5/29
Hello, what’s up, and welcome to the Lite + Brite newsletter.
Hopefully if you’re reading this you didn’t get washed away or knocked apart in the great hail flood of ’25. We made it out alive but various plants and disco-themed lawn ornaments gave their lives so that we might bring you this newsletter. Rest in pieces, little mirrorballs.
Tonight Brian will be spinning indie sleaze, dancepunk, + electroclash at Prick Up Your Ears @ Elysium. It’s a rare treat when you get to throw a party at one of the spots where you like to hang out, and we’re really excited to dance to a lot of our 00s favorites. Saturday we are the media partner for our friends at Sky Candy’s Quinceñera, where we’ll be watching amazing aerial performers, live music, + DJs and celebrating their anniversary. We hope these events sound as fun to you as they do to us!
There’s a lot going on this week as usual. ATX TV Festival begins tonight and is featuring panels from some of our favorite new tv shows (*coughAndorcough*). You can BYO art, dip metaphorically or literally, or dance your way across Austin. You can watch puppets emote in a live band. You can see subversive clown-themed burlesque, ballet under the stars, brewers spelling big ol’ beer-themed words, fantasy-themed drag, Adventure Time theme drag, + coming of age drag. Even if you have no idea what do we have you covered. Truly something for everyone, right?
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Let’s do fun stuff!
—Leila + Brian
liteandbriteatx.com
OUR STUFF
TONIGHT at 9:30pm, Brian is DJing at Prick Up Your Ears, a night of dance punk, electroclash, and indie sleaze at Elysium. If you’re looking for a dance floor full of Hot Chip, LCD Soundsystem, Bloc Party, the Gossip, Peaches, MGMT, and their brethren in the year 2025, this is where you need to be. If you’re not looking for that, then I (Leila) may never truly understand you. To get in the mood, we’ve made this playlist of songs with Prick Up Your Ears vibes.
SATURDAY is Sky Candy’s Quinceñera, for which L+B is the official media partner. We love Sky Candy for many reasons. I (still Leila) once took a six-week wall harness dance class there and now she is basically a professional circus performer. (Extremely kidding on that last part.) We’re so glad to help Sky Candy mark 15 years of business, a milestone that speaks volumes about both how welcoming they are to the community, and how much enthusiasm there is in this town for off-the-wall activities. (Or on-the-wall, as in the case of my harness class.) Join us in getting all dressed up to celebrate!
This past week we had DJ Vampira do a guest DJ set in our backyard carport for No Humans Allowed, Brian’s radio show on Kpiss. We’ve seen them spin around town at some of our favorite spots including Elysium and Tiny Minotaur so it was fun having them play in our backyard. Listen here for their mix of darkwave, industrial, + italo disco.
EVENTS WE’RE EYEING
Thursday 5/29
- Prick Up Your Ears at Elysium
Brian joins DJs spinning 00s dancepunk, electro, + indie sleaze - Glamp Glamp at Lynny’s
“Queer performative weirdness” a la camp talent shows - Adventure Time Drag Show at Cheer Up Charlie’s
Drag performers pay tribute to D+D themed coming of age cartoon - Nerd Nite at Barrel O’ Fun
Hear nerdy high-caliber talks on a variety of topics - PowerPints at Radio East
“Drink + learn things” at comedic talks on a variety of esoteric topics - No Idea Festival at Monk’s Jazz Club
Avant-garde + improvisational musical performances, panel, + film - ATX TV Festival at various downtown venues
“TV camp for grown ups” w/panels, premieres, stars, + screenings - (weekly thru 6/26) Movies on the Lake at Mozart’s
Paddle out onto Lady Bird Lake + watch a classic blockbuster
Friday 5/30
- 1-800-CLOWN-TOWN at Kick Butt Coffee
Wild circus-themed burlesque, comedy, + “all pole clown show” - Community Art Show at Moontower Cider
It’s like a potluck for art, BYO artworks + check out others’ pieces - No Idea Festival at Monk’s Jazz Club
Live avant-garde musicians play improvised + planned works - Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted at AFS
Watch a film about a cult R&B musician + hear a talk w/him after - Ballet Under the Stars at Zilker Hillside Theater
Grab a blanket + enjoy a free outdoor ballet performance - ATX TV Festival at various downtown venues
“TV camp for grown ups” w/panels, premieres, stars, + screenings
Saturday 5/31
- Quinceañera at Sky Candy
Anniversary party w/aerialists, live music, dance party, + “human piñata” - Dangerous Animals on the Water at Volente Beach Resort & Waterpark
Watch a sharksploitation horror film while floating in a raft on the water - Metropolis Live Score at Hyperreal Film Club
Watch classic silent scifi film w/reimagined live score - Doom Metal Goat Yoga at Jester King
“We call out to the beasts of the land to come forth and JOIN US!” - KhushFest at Republic Square
Instagrammable colored powder toss w/DJs, food, vendors, kids activities - Dip Night Potluck at the Museum of Human Achievement
“Truly anything can be a dip as long as you’re putting one thing into another thing” - Dance Walk at Pan Am Park
Join a crew of folks dancing their way across Austin - Fragile Rock at the Highball
A live band of puppets performing sensitive rock songs. Zero Fraggles - Body Mechanics at 4211 Todd Ln.
DJs happily blurring the lines between a dance party + a fetish party - Queer to Tell at Capt. Quack’s
“Queer Stories told by Queer People in Queer Businesses in Queer Austin” - Drag Me to the Tavern at Tiny Minotaur
Drag kings, queens, + knights in fantasy costumes - Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted at AFS
Watch a film about the enigmatic musician + hear a talk w/him after - Ballet Under the Stars at Zilker Hillside Theater
Grab a blanket + enjoy a free outdoor ballet performance - ATX TV Festival at various downtown venues
“TV camp for grown ups” w/panels, premieres, stars, + screenings - (weekly) Come @ Me at Fallout Theater
An improv comedy show built around your social media presence
Sunday 6/1
- ATX TV Festival at various downtown venues
“TV camp for grown ups” w/panels, premieres, stars, + screenings - (weekly thru 6/22) Splashdance at the Austin Motel
Poolside aerobics with Austin’s most creative aerobics instructor
Monday 6/2
- Brewery Spelling Bee at St. Elmo Brewing
Brewery workers spell beer-centric big words for bragging rights + a trophy - It’s Not a Phase, Mom! at Kick Butt Coffee
Slumber party + coming of age themed burlesque + variety performers
Tuesday 6/3
- One Page Salon at Radio Coffee + Beer
Hear local writers read their works in progress + published works - Umlauf After Dark at Umlauf
Pride-themed aerialists, DJ, karaoke, + artist showcases
Wednesday 6/4
- Magical Mind Mysteries at the Vortex
“Magic show for Grown-Ups” mixes the absurd + the eccentric - Silent Book Club at Capt. Quack’s
Silently read books together + optional sharing
Thursday 6/5
- Interiors at Ground Floor Theatre
New modern dance performance set to live music
No Humans Allowed 235
Guest Set by DJ Vampira
This week we’ve got a special live guest set by DJ Vampira. We met them at a dance party in a castle where we bonded over italo disco. They came and spun some incredible darkwave, industrial, + italo in the No Humans Allowed backyard carport.
Stream Guest Set by DJ Vampira
Tracklist
Mareux – DTLA
Animal Bodies – The Golden Triangle
Aurat – ¿Can You Hear Me? (Mvtant Remix)
Qual – Cupio Disslovi
Normal Bias – Kingdom Come
Night Drive – I Wanna Be Adored (The Stone Roses Cover)
Vera Gloom – Hollow Mind (Fluid Ghost Body remix)
Switchblade Symphony – Wallflower (WLDV Edit)
Bi God 20 – America
Nouvelle Phenomene – Cruel Game (Vanzetti & Sacco Remix)
Clay Pedrini – New Dream (Slicer Edit)
My Mine – Hypnotic Tango
Fancy – Lady of Ice
Vodoo Rage – Decay
Las Eras – Caraza
Night In Athens – Wasted Reflektions
Temptrix – How Many Plays
Vogue Noir – Segments (feat. Drift)
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.
PATREON THANKS
A huge thank-you to our Patreon subscribers Robert B., Roman Gonzalez, Nick Ivons, Molly Fonseca, Lilly Ettinger, Michael Sales, Zach, Gino Scaramuzza, Erica Speegle, Jarrett Holtz, Thomas Refferson, 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 getting ready for Prick Up Your Ears, watching the Buda Wiener Dog Races, and experiencing a toy art exhibit at Collection Rert. 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 (where we sometimes post stuff early too).
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 2025). 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.