Lite + Brite: 21 Jubilant Austin Events 1/9
Hello, what’s up, and welcome to the Lite + Brite newsletter.
FIRSTLY: Our 2026 reader survey is now open! It takes very little time to fill out, you can skip any questions that you don’t want to think about, and we will act based on your responses. One question pertains to scheduling for our next L+B reader meetup, so your answers are highly relevant. Go here and check some boxes!
As for events: Manual Cinema, an extraordinary Chicago-based shadow puppet troupe, is back in town this weekend with their children’s show. Free Week means dozens and dozens of local bands are playing FOR FREE (as per the name) on Red River tonight and tomorrow. Celebrate Bowie with vinyl or Elvis with tribute bands. Prepare for the impending apocalypse by learning traditional archery or woodcarving. And of course you can always listen to our new wintry playlist in honor of the promised “cold front.” Put on a parka and let’s party.
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 1/9
- Ghost World at We Luv Video
Dress up with your bestie + watch an outcast classic - Dungeon Synth Night at Tiny Minotaur
Medieval synth tunes w/live dungeon synth + DnB - Free Week on Red River
Free local live music at Austin’s finest downtown venues
Saturday 1/10
- Bowie Bash at Drinks Lounge
DJ Sue breaks out all her Bowie vinyl to mark his bday - Annual Elvis Jubilee at the Continental Club
Long-running musical tribute to the King on his birthday - Honk!TX Winter Ball at 29th St. Ballroom
“Dress to impress” w/marching bands, raffles, silent auction - Pirate Night at Tiny Minotaur
“No blaggards or bilge-rats allowed” at this pirate costume party - Cello Fest at the Cathedral
Cellists perform classical + modern pop music in intimate setting - Free Week on Red River
Free local live music at Austin’s finest downtown venues - (weekly thru 1/31) Escape the Box at Fareground
Escape the box only there’s no box, there is Austin fun + time travel
Sunday 1/11
- Manual Cinema at the Paramount
Mind-boggling shadow puppet adaptation of kids book - Nothing Natural at Captain Quack’s Soundspace
Anglophilic DJs spinning shoegaze, dreampop, + britpop - Campfire Storytime at the Vortex
ASL interpreted Queer storytelling for those aged 18-110 - Cello Fest at the Cathedral
Cellists perform classical + modern pop music in intimate setting - (weekly thru 1/25) Escape the Box at Fareground
Escape the box only there’s no box, there is Austin fun + time travel
Monday 1/12
- ATX Short Film Showcase at the 29th St. Ballroom
The films are short, the filmmakers are Texan + of varying heights
Tuesday 1/13
- Ha! Ha! Storytime! at Radio South
Comedic storytellers “compete for Sonic the Hedgehog’s heart”
Wednesday 1/14
- Behind the Stream at Capital Factory
UT profs talk on musical sustainability in the streaming era - Traditional Archery Club at Factory on 5th
“Inclusive traditional archery club” for the “archery-curious”
Thursday 1/15
- Metropolis with Live Score at 29th St. Ballroom
Watch the scifi silent film w/live re-scored soundtrack - Mountains on Screen at AFS
See films about folks who climb up mountains (+ back down) - Woodcarving Workshop at the Buzz Mill
Get into the “mindful art of knife carving.” Also hey, free knife! - Bard + Brew at the ABGB
Shakespearian theater + “revels,” bard-inspired live music - (weekly thru 2/5) The Wolf You Feed at the Vortex
Watch a Wild Things-inspired play about punk wolves
NHA265
It Was the Year 2025
This week was a showcase of all of our favorite new music that came out in the year 2025, and the year did not disappoint.
Tracklist
Proper Monday Number – High Horse
Decius – I Gave Birth 2 U
Avalon Emerson – Don’t Be Seen with Me
Jet Cemetary – Melt Away
Temptrix – As I Bleed
Nuovo Testamento – Picture Perfect
Camiliani – Ah Si Si
Gelli Haha – Normalize
Modernform – Hourglass
Nation of Language – I’m Not Ready for the Change
Nuclear Daisies – Infinite Joy
Bell Towers – Overload
Harsh Symmetry – Quiet Pill
CRYYS – Temporary World
No Humans Allowed is Brian Blackout’s award-winning, 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 Melissa Dunn, Kat, James Gray, Emily Heddleson, Andrew Creswell, Robert B., Roman Gonzalez, Nick Ivons, Molly Fonseca, Lilly Ettinger, Michael Sales, Zach, Gino Scaramuzza, Erica Speegle, Thomas Refferson, Bones Malones, Katie Green, Christina Jue, Colleen MB, Alexander Freed, Kristen Backor, and Timon A. 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 attending a dance party in a storage unit, marching in a Greek mythology-themed Halloween parade thrown by a bat crew and a rat crew, and watching a troupe of gigantic leftist puppets from New England. 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, ATX Theatre for plays, 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.