Lite + Brite: 50 Catalytic Austin Events 9/26

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

We’ve reached the time of year when temperatures are supposedly dropping, which means Austin’s event count is definitely skyrocketing. There’s a lot to keep track of! Spooky-adjacent events are going into our annual Halloween spreadsheet, which is shaping up to be massive this year—in the past, we’ve included only the two weeks leading up to Halloween, but this year, the spreadsheet starts on Oct. 1 and covers the full month. Folks who support us on Patreon at the $5+/month have already been granted early access to the spreadsheet, and everyone else will get it with the October Monthly. We’ll include the best spooky events in our weekly newsletters as usual too.

But before we get to October, first we have Levitation. If you want a sense of who’s playing (or want to feel like you’re there without buying a badge), listen to our Levitation playlist here. This coming week we’re also celebrating anniversaries for two local indie bookshops (HBD Birdhouse and First Light!), as well as 10 years of the Austin Book Arts Center, 20 years of Twilight, and 20 years of Panic! at the Disco. (Someone should really look into what was up with America’s water supply in September 2005.) Visual art and dancers will both appear on the sides of downtown buildings. Steins will be hoisted in a variety of breweries. Local chefs and bartenders will play soccer; dogs will look like their owners; teenage mortifications will be fodder; trash will be fashion. Sound and light will take over a church, creators with disabilities will take over theater, italo-disco will take over a… storage unit? Like we said: There’s a lot to keep track of. That’s what we’re here for.

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

EVENTS WE’RE EYEING

Friday 9/26

  • Tortuga Nights Pirate Brothel Burlesque at Tiny Minotaur
    Dress up as a pirate + see burlesque performers dressed as cutthroats
  • Rite of Passage at Central Presbyterian Church
    Experimental live electronic music with live visual artists in a church
  • Catalysts at Collection Rert
    Multi-medium art show inspired by data + agents of change
  • Mortified at the Highball
    Folks share their teenaged diaries in a new comedic light, w/ASL
  • WaterWork at the Seaholm Intake Facility
    Projected art along the river, view it from a boat or on the shore
  • TUBU Fest at Ground Floor Theatre
    Theatrical short works featuring creatives with disabilities
  • Alluvius at East Side Performing Arts Center
    Modern ballet performance set to metal + hard rock soundtrack
  • New Media Art + Sound Summit at the Museum of Human Achievement
    Festival of experimental music + new media art and sound
  • Levitation at the Palmer Events Center + on Red River
    Annual fest brings a killer lineup, takes place in Palmer AND downtown now
  • Urban Dreaming at RBJ Residences
    “Immersive movement opera” which “fuses contemporary + aerial dance”
  • The Man from Earth at Paper Plate Gallery
    Pay-what-you-can outdoor theater about a professor’s mysterious past
  • The Wizard of dOgZ at the Vortex
    Family-friendly retelling of Oz with puppets, aerialists, circus arts, + dogs

Saturday 9/27

  • Slam Portal at Progress Coffee
    Interdimensional wrestlers become fully automated for an appearance in Buda
  • Special DJ Burger at 2600 Buell Ave.
    Int’l DJs bring you “the MOST ‘outside-traditional-legal-boundaries’ italo-disco situationalist spectacle to be found in Austin, Texas this particular Saturday evening.”
  • Lavender Legends Prom at Dottiewood Studios
    “Celebrate your Queer Elders” w/DJ, prom pics, + drag performers
  • Bookshop Block Party at First Light
    Block party w/live music, DJs, food vendors, + books
  • Art Under $100 at Propaganda HQ
    Artists sell their work at extremely approachable prices
  • PietschHouse House Show at an undisclosed location
    House party with live visual artists + live music
  • Arte en la Cancha at Vanta Athletics
    All female soccer matches, all latina DJs, + food vendors
  • Noche de Liberacion Pachanga at RichesArt
    Live music, DJs, “powerful cultural rituals,” vendors, + activities
  • A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out Cabaret at Cheer Up Charlie’s
    Burlesque + drag performers inspired by beloved emo LP
  • Trash Makeover Challenge at TDS Event Pavilion
    “Eco-fashion runway,” + auctions support you + the planet looking good 
  • Dog + Owner Lookalike Contest at Republic Square Park
    “Think you + your pup are twins?” Win prizes for it
  • Nite School at Cheer Up Charlie’s
    DJs + live musicians play darkwave w/live visuals
  • Bodas de México at AISD Performing Arts Center
    Ballet company invokes wedding traditions from across Mexico
  • Boulderfest at Austin Bouldering Project
    Live music, raffles, + all-levels bouldering competitions
  • Brewtoberfest at the Brewtorium
    German beer + bites, live polka, olympic games, + stein hoisting
  • Sonic Snacks at the Museum of Human Achievement
    Potluck w/show-and-tells from sound artists + “other cool folks”
  • Gulf Coast Gothic at Stargazer
    Performance artist examines Gothic symbolism in the TX gulf
  • Common Ground Art Fest at the Hill Country Galleria
    Live music, arts vendors, + activities for kids
  • Japan Fes at Republic Square
    Celebration of Japanese food culture w/40 street food vendors
  • Oktoberfest at St. Elmo Brewing Co. (both locations)
    German beers, live polka, pretzels, + kids and adults hoisting steins
  • Mediterranean Festival at St. Elias Orthodox Church
    Food, vendors, + traditional dance from Greece + beyond
  • Mortified at the Highball
    Folks share their teenaged diaries in a new comedic light, w/ASL
  • WaterWork at the Seaholm Intake Facility
    Projected art along the river, view it from a boat or on the shore
  • TUBU Fest at Ground Floor Theatre
    Theatrical short works featuring creatives with disabilities
  • Alluvius at East Side Performing Arts Center
    Modern ballet performance set to metal + hard rock soundtrack
  • New Media Art + Sound Summit at the Museum of Human Achievement
    Festival of experimental music + new media art and sound
  • Levitation at the Palmer Events Center + on Red River
    Annual fest brings a killer lineup, takes place in Palmer AND downtown now
  • Urban Dreaming at RBJ Residences
    “Immersive movement opera” which “fuses contemporary + aerial dance”
  • The Man from Earth at Paper Plate Gallery
    Pay-what-you-can outdoor theater about a professor’s mysterious past
  • The Wizard of dOgZ at the Vortex
    Family-friendly retelling of Oz with puppets, aerialists, circus arts, + dogs
  • (weekly thru 11/29) Goat Yoga at Tiny Minotaur
    “We call out to the beasts of the land to come forth and JOIN US!”

Sunday 9/28

  • Ghost Almanac at Hyperreal Film Club
    Silent horror films re-soundtracked by live synthesizer enthusiasts
  • Fool Hearty at Capt. Quack’s
    Humorists, authors, artists, + “ukelele wizard” discuss all things tarot
  • One-Year Anniversary Party at Birdhouse Books
    Book signings, free books, + tarot readings
  • Big Flood, Bigger Community at Cheer Up Charlie’s
    Drag performers, live music, + comedians raise money for rural queer spaces
  • South Austin Custom + Vintage Bicycle Show at 3913 Todd Ln.
    Check out tricked-out + vintage bicycles w/live music + raffles
  • Japan Fes at Republic Square
    Celebration of Japanese food culture w/40 street food vendors
  • Oktoberfest at St. Elmo Brewing Co. (both locations)
    German beers, live polka, pretzels, + yodeling competition
  • Mediterranean Festival at St. Elias Orthodox Church
    Food, vendors, + traditional dance from Greece + beyond
  • New Media Art + Sound Summit at the Museum of Human Achievement
    Festival of experimental music + new media art and sound
  • Levitation at the Palmer Events Center + on Red River
    Annual fest brings a killer lineup, takes place in Palmer AND downtown now
  • Urban Dreaming at RBJ Residences
    “Immersive movement opera” which “fuses contemporary + aerial dance”
  • The Man from Earth at Paper Plate Gallery
    Pay-what-you-can outdoor theater about a professor’s mysterious past
  • The Wizard of dOgZ at the Vortex
    Family-friendly retelling of Oz with puppets, aerialists, circus arts, + dogs

Monday 9/29

  • The Hospitality Cup at Onion Creek Soccer Complex
    Watch two teams of Austin’s chefs + bartenders play a soccer match

Tuesday 9/30

Wednesday 10/1

  • Word Perv at Smelt House
    Storytelling + variety show about gender + sexuality
  • Manifest Minifest at Ground Floor Theater
    Shortform plays inspired by Gil Scott-Heron’s revolutionary anthem

Thursday 10/2

No Humans Allowed 251
By the Numbers

We’re doing this week’s No Humans Allowed totally by the numbers. As in, every song tonight will be about numbers or have them in the song title.

Stream By the Numbers

Tracklist
Electric Mind – Zwei
Willesden Dodgers – 112 B.P.M.
Daniel Wang – 24 to Vector Z (Morgan Geist Remix)
Console – 14 Zero Zero
Heads We Dance – You Are Never Alone with Model 21 (Harris Robotis remix)
Equation – I’ll Say a Prayer 4 U
Wally Badarou – Smiles by the Millions
Elisa Waut – Four Times More
San Serac – Two Steps Ahead
Prince Jammy – 32 Bit Chip
Future Bible Heroes – A Thousand Lovers in a Day
D’Arcangelo – Diagram 20
Joanne King – Two Pillows (Captain’ Edit)
Sandy Lam – 1,000 Dozen of Egypt Rose (RFX 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 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 Emily Heddleson, Andrew Creswell, 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, Alexander Freed, Kristen Backor, Timon A., 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 celebrating the fifth anniversary of No Humans Allowed, attending a Blue Lapis Light aerial dance performance on the side of a building, and readying our annual spreadsheet of Halloween events. 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.

SEE YOU NEXT WEEK, CHAMPIONS

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