Lite + Brite: 31 Momentary Austin Events 1/30
Hello, what’s up, and welcome to the Lite + Brite newsletter.
Austin is coming slowly out its formerly frozen stupor like me getting out of bed when the alarm rings, but freezing temps or no, we’ve got things to do + places to see. Today is a national shutdown to abolish ICE with many businesses we love and feature in this newsletter participating by shutting down or by donating funds to immigrant rights groups. Consider participating in the nationwide boycott today and supporting local businesses tomorrow (and in the next few days). Between closure for inclement weather and closures in solidarity, local businesses have gone through a lot this month. They are the lifeblood that keeps Austin full of fun offbeat things to do as much as our town’s amazing artists, performers, + promoters, + we hope you appreciate and support what we’ve got.
Seeking to brave the world and get out there? Choose between a venerable chili cook off and an only slightly less venerable cook-off with a crazy championship belt. Share some obsessions, celebrate REALLY short kings, watch to see if Buda’s “ground dog” sees its shadow, check out Blade Runner w/a live symphonic score, take part in a dry gothic ball, fête bimbos, frolic with dark fae, or watch a play inspired by Where the Wild Things are and punk wolves.
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 1/30
- Winter Gothic Ball at Sans Bar
Celebrate dry January w/mocktails + goth DJs - Within These Walls at Almost Real Things
“Immersive sound-healing,” charm bar, + “medical astrology” - Wee Folk Night at Tiny Minotaur
Celebrate “fantasy lil guy” types in costume or out of it - Fall Out Boy Drag Show at Elysium
Drag performers pay tribute to 00s emo - (weekly thru 2/7) The Wolf You Feed at the Vortex
Watch a Wild Things-inspired play about punk wolves
Saturday 1/31
- Lord of the Rings Day at BookPeople
Cultivate your inner hobbit w/costume contest, trivia, + scav hunt - Deadhead Disco at Empire
Dance to reworkings of songs by the Grateful Dead + other psych acts - We Ride in Unity at Eastside Pedal Pushers
Local cycling crews’ group ride in solidarity w/Minneapolis - Barefoot Ball at East Side Performing Arts
Live music, dance performances, silent auction, + dance party - Grand Opening Celebration at Big Top Candy Shop Hyde Park
“Free candy tastings, face painting, + other surprises” - Bimbo Bash at Traphouse
DJs, gogo dancers, + burlesque performers celebrate bimbos - Dark Fae Night at Tiny Minotaur
“Frolic with the fae” in gothic faerie costumes w/darkwave DJ - Learning Secrets at Coconut Club
DJ-selectors spinning global vibes for 21 years - Heated Rivalry Rave at 29th St. Ballroom
Dance to “queer anthems” + dress up like a hockey fan - Art Jam at ArtUs Co.
Watch live painters + peruse art vendors - Dance Walking at the Long Center
A locomoting dance party jiggles its way across Austin - Tribeza Interiors Tour at homes throughout Austin
Tour some of Austin’s best-decorated homes according to Tribeza - Escape the Box at Fareground
Escape the box only there’s no box, there is Austin fun + time travel - (weekly thru 2/7) Frontera Fest Best of the Week at Hyde Park Theater
“Alternative, offbeat, new, and just plain off-the-wall fringe theatre” - (weekly thru 2/7) The Wolf You Feed at the Vortex
Watch a Wild Things-inspired play about punk wolves
Sunday 2/1
- Fortlandia Closing Day at Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center
Annual interactive installation art exhibition w/play fort theme - Blade Runner Live at Bass Concert Hall
See classic 80s cyberpunk film w/live score penned by Vangelis - 19th Annual Chili Cook-off at Jo’s South Congress
Judge + eat chili + debate the existence of chili w/beans - 15th Annual Chili Cook-off at Liberty Bar
A chili cook-off that also involves gator skin championship belts - Ground Dog Day in downtown Buda
They say if a “ground dog” sees his shadow, Ted Cruz heads to Mexico - The Moment at Cheer Up Charlie’s
Drag performers + DJs pay tribute to Charli XCX + her movie premiere - Games Y’all at 1908 Kramer Ln.
Indie game devs + fans meetup to try out games in progress - Tribeza Interiors Tour at homes throughout Austin
Tour some of Austin’s best-decorated homes according to Tribeza - Escape the Box at Fareground
Escape the box only there’s no box, there is Austin fun + time travel - (weekly thru 2/7) The Wolf You Feed at the Vortex
Watch a Wild Things-inspired play about punk wolves
Wednesday 2/4
- Vivid Parlor at Almost Real Things
Share yr obsessions or hear about others’ in an artist studio - Word Perv at Smelt House
Storytelling + variety show about gender + sexuality - Greetings from Queer Mountain at Cheer Up Charlie’s
Storytelling + performances by local queer folks w/vendors
Thursday 2/5
- Testify at Barrel O’ Fun
Storytellers tell true stories about the things we do for love - PowerPints at Radio East
“Drink + learn things” at comedic talks on a variety of esoteric topics - (weekly thru 2/7) The Wolf You Feed at the Vortex
Watch a Wild Things-inspired play about punk wolves
NHA268
Big Blue Disk
Inspired by the late 80s software magazine “The Big Blue DIsk,” which was full of software to try, we’ve concocted an imaginary diskette of tunes we’d love to promote, circa 1985/86 when the Big Blue Disk began its journey. Press play for an hour of italo, boogie, balearic, + garage house tunes.
Tracklist
Dance Department – Paradise
Gina & the Flexix – I Wanna Believe
Executive – Executive Dance (Cap’ Edit)
Giovanotti Mondani Maccanini – Ultimo Tango a Parigi (Last Tango)
Ryuichi Sakamoto + Koharu Kisaragi – Neo-Plant
Fragile – We’ve Got Tonight, Boy
Goblin – Jennifer’s Friend
Harold Faltermeyer – Leg Work
Chris Blackwell – Hour Glass
Cuélebre – Costa Verde
Paradise Girls – Holding Back (KZA Edit)
Cyber People – Doctor Faustu’s
K Joy – My Phone
Johnny Dynell – Rhythm of Love (Simon Tappenden Edit)
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 Liz, 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.