Lite + Brite: 34 Ultra Austin Events 2/20
Hello, what’s up, and welcome to the Lite + Brite newsletter.
Last year we had the great pleasure of seeing Deceptaclown, “Austin’s premier lesbian all-clown Le Tigre cover band,” play a set at Friendly Rio Market, a convenience store + music venue. This newsletter exists to tell you when events like that are happening, so now we’re letting you know that Deceptaclown is playing again this weekend, along with queer tribute bands and drag performers paying homage to Peaches and the Gossip. As you might guess from everything we’ve ever said + done, this is the sort of nonsense we live for.
Also coming this week, we’ve got a facial hair competition, parties celebrating Twin Peaks and Buffy, modern dance in a culvert, pirate cosplay, loop pedals + “live freeform crochet”, Austin’s annual queer transmedia arts festival, too much gumbo, not enough antibodies, and just the right amount of dragon dancers. Scroll down for details on all this and more.
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Let’s do fun stuff!
—Leila + Brian
liteandbriteatx.com
WHAT WE’VE BEEN UP TO
We had our reader meetup last Sunday and we were so thrilled to see some new + familiar faces and talk Austin events with y’all. We got to hear about some upcoming events we’re excited about and got to engage with many excellent readers + make a couple converts. We started this newsletter to give back to our community and to connect with our community, and events like meetups make us feel like we’re hitting some of those goals, which we really value. Thanks to everyone who made it out and said hello, it was great seeing + meeting all of you.
Also this week we finally got to catch Nuovo Testamento live at the 29th Street Ballroom. The show was packed and the band fed so much off of the crowd’s crazy energy levels. Hearing their singer talk about how much they look forward to playing here on every tour reminded me that Austin is not just a great place for music fans, it’s a spot that musicians from all over the world look forward to coming to. So this was a perfect appetizer for us for all the SxSW insanity coming next month. This is also a good chance for me to mention you should check out our SxSW picks below. for some real gems.
Last of all I know it’s not spring but all this warm yet not insanely hot weather has me feeling like I should do some spring cleaning. Brian got in on this energy by doing a radio show full of songs about baths, showers, shampoo, and bubbles. Tracklist for that below or you can listen on the Kpiss archives here.
EVENTS WE’RE EYEING
Friday 2/20
- Come and Shave It at Mohawk
Beard + moustache contests benefitting charity, + DJ - Shock Therapy at Elysium
Drag performers go mad for Alice in Wonderland - Pirate Night at Tiny Minotaur
“No blaggards or bilge-rats allowed” at this pirate costume party - The Covid Century at AFS
See doc about COVID + discuss epidemics w/UT molecular bio profs - Ultrasound at Co-Lab Projects
Site-specific modern dance performance “exploring psychic freedom” - Say That Again at Dougherty Arts Center
Street dance-inspired choreographed + community dances w/live hip-hop - The Superfair at Fair Market
A superhero among normal art fairs w/live art + music, DJs, drawing station - OUTsider Festival at the Vortex
“Austin’s queerdo arts fest” w/film, dance, theater, music, performance art
Saturday 2/21
- Carnaval at Ani’s Day + Night
Brazil-themed live music, activations, food, cocktails, vendors, + costumes - Gumbo Fest at the Cavalier
Render judgement unto an array of gumbo + see who’s crowned winner - Buffy The Vampire Birthdayer at Tiny Minotaur
Buffy-themed drag, costume contest, singalong, + games - Fast Friends at Plaza Saltillo
Experience “speed friending,” public transportation, + games - Drafthouse Movie Book Fair at the Highball
The Highball cosplaying as a book fair for books that became films - Loop Palace 2 at FailSpace
Live musicians all using loop pedals, plus poetry + live crochet - Well Made Plays at dadaLab
Live music, DJ, art installations, tarot, + vendors to support immigrants - Electric Feels at Mohawk
Touring night of DJs spinning 00s indie dance music - PowerPints at the Highball
“Drink + learn things” at comedic talks on a variety of esoteric topics - Skál at St. John Studios
Nordic-themed “full fantasy experience” w/live music, vendors, photo booth - Ultrasound at Co-Lab Projects
Site-specific modern dance performance “exploring psychic freedom” - Say That Again at Dougherty Arts Center
Street dance-inspired choreographed + community dances w/live hip-hop - The Superfair at Fair Market
A superhero among normal art fairs w/live art + music, DJs, drawing station - OUTsider Festival at the Vortex
“Austin’s queerdo arts fest” w/film, dance, theater, music, performance art
Sunday 2/22
- Community Day at ACL Live
Free Dead tribute band, live music, ACL tours, + ticket giveaways - Peaches, Le Tigre, Gossip Queer Tribute at Sahara Lounge
Indie sleaze era “queer tribute bands” + drag performers - Lunar New Year Festival at the Paper + Craft Pantry
Asian-owned vendors, traditional dance performances, storytime, + more - Community Craft Supply Swap at Make at Rosie
Crafting swap where you can gain or lose supplies + unfinished projects - Skál at St. John Studios
Nordic-themed “full fantasy experience” w/live music, vendors, photo booth - The Superfair at Fair Market
A superhero among normal art fairs w/live art + music, DJs, drawing station - OUTsider Festival at the Vortex
“Austin’s queerdo arts fest” w/film, dance, theater, music, performance art
Tuesday 2/24
- Twin Peaks Night at Hotel Vegas
Local bands covering songs of Twin Peaks, costume contest, photobooth - Cirque Mechanics at Bass Concert Hall
Acrobats leap around “intricate contraptions,” a display of man + machine - Astronomy on Tap at Celis Brewery
Gather + talk astronomy w/fellow enthusiasts in the orbit of beer
Wednesday 2/25
- Trad-ATX at Factory on 5th
Social club for shooting arrows, especially for the “archery-curious” - Night at the Museum at Texas Science + Natural History Museum
Visual art + interactive installations focus on “creative potential in scientific disciplines”
Thursday 2/26
- Dance on Film at Galaxy Theatres
Screenings of curated films displaying modern dance performances - Experiments in Spiritualist Table Tipping at First Spiritualist Church of Austin
“Spirit communication experiments” delve into the history of table tipping - Pastel Hell at the 13th Floor
Drag tribute to “the aesthetics / music of the Pastel Goth era” - Nerd Nite at Barrel O’ Fun
Hear nerdy high-caliber talks on a variety of sexuality + asexuality topics - Natural Rope Making Workshop at Buzz Mill
Learn to make rope from raw plant materials so you can have a wilderness rodeo - Disco Cuntry Club at Elysium
“Southern Sapphic night” w/linedance lessons, drag hosts, vendors, + DJ - Yoke at Sterling Stage
Collaboratively devised, darkly comedic play about transformation + reflection - Say That Again at Dougherty Arts Center
Street dance-inspired choreographed + community dances w/live hip hop
NHA270
ScrubSoft
We got squeaky clean this week on No Humans Allowed. Press play to bathe in effervescent electropop, disco, house, + other bubbly tunes.
Tracklist
Washed Out – Floating by
Saint Etienne – Shower Scene
The Swiss – Bubble Bath
Beni – It’s a Bubble
Cut Copy – Cold Water
FM Skyline – Texture Bath
Kazuko Umino – Waltz of Water and Bubbles
MA.GI.C – Shampoo
The Seebach Band – Bubble Sex
Sorcerer – Shampoo Groove
Ex Cops – Black Soap (Eli Escobar Remix)
Hysteric – Portable Dishwasher
The Police – When the World Is Running Down (Gay Marvine 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.
Lite+Brite’s SxSW 2026 Picks
SxSW is nearly upon us, and Music Festival wristbands are now available for $149 apiece. This year, you DO NOT need to be an Austin resident to purchase a wristband, and there will be no Film Festival wristbands. Here are some of the bands we’re excited to see at this year’s fest:
Brian’s Pick of the Week
The Haunted Youth
Big majestic M83 style pop w/post-punk edge to it, from Belgium
Leila’s Pick of the Week
The Tullamarines
Catchy Australian indie pop, RIYL the Wombats
Our Prior Picks
Adult DVD
UK synth sickos who aren’t afraid of ghilly suits and bombastic catchy tunes
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.