Lite + Brite: 36 Jestful Austin Events 2/27
Hello, what’s up, and welcome to the Lite + Brite newsletter.
Listen up, you whippersnappers! In my day, we knew what a rave was. A rave was when you threw an event without telling anyone the location because it was of dubious legality, and you didn’t want the cops to know about it. You can call your event a Squirrel Rave, a Homer Simpson Rave, or a The View Rave but if you tell the cops where it’s at it’s not TECHNICALLY a rave. Anything else was just a dance party where they were playing techno. Well, this week the folks who are organizing the Scream Rave really get it. No listed location, you learn where it is by getting a ticket, and also you might be murdered by a maniac in a mask. That’s what it’s all about. Peace, love, unity, respect, and possibly murder. Also someone please throw a Homer Simpson Rave (even if you tell the cops), I am ready.
If you’re protective about keeping your feet firmly planted on this mortal coil, we have begrudgingly collected some possible activities with a near-zero chance of your imminent demise. Some things where you probably won’t die: wiener dogs will be racing, Nosferatu fans engage in a garlic eating contest, watch a documentary that goes deep on caves, take in some very sad drag kings, sing multi-modal karaoke, or mark Lunar New Year with dozens of performers, or petting ponies (they’re almost horses!).
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Let’s do fun stuff!
—Leila + Brian
liteandbriteatx.com
INTRODUCING FESTWIZ
If you’ve been reading Lite + Brite for longer than a year, you know that we take SxSW VERY SERIOUSLY, usually seeing upward of 40 bands in the course of the week. In the past, Brian has made a mind-bogglingly elaborate band spreadsheet. This year, he’s outdone himself by building an entire SxSW planning web app called FestWiz for us all to use. I (Leila) am going to tell you about some of its best features because Brian is too humble to do so:
- FestWiz currently includes 995 bands and a schedule with all of their official and unofficial shows. More shows + bands are added daily.
- You can rate each band on a 1 to 4 scale so you can prioritize who you’re psyched about.
- You can plan your schedule by filtering shows by ‘free’ vs. ‘badge-holder only,’ or by your ratings.
- You can export your ratings and share them with friends when they ask you, “Is anyone good playing SxSW this year?”
- You can prioritize your favorite genres so you’re only looking at artists you might care about, rather than being inundated by all 995 band names.
- You don’t need to download or install anything, or create an account to use it.
- A bunch more stuff that you will discover when you go to FestWiz.
So far I have rated 68 artists on FestWiz. Brian has rated like 250. You don’t have to rate any, but you CAN, and isn’t that beautiful?
EVENTS WE’RE EYEING
Friday 2/27
- Butch Blues at Elysium
“Sad all drag king show” w/vendors, specialty drinks, + entertainers - The Science of Public Art Preservation at UT Austin
Tour works from UT’s outdoor sculpture collection + learn conservation - Pipe Dreams at Saengerrunde Hall
Storied organists perform solo, in combos, + w/beer and pastries - Barbara Jordan Birthday Ride at RichesArt
Celebrate art + activism w/ a group bike ride - Scream Rave at an Unannounced Location
Good old-fashioned techno rave (but you might be murdered) - Bells in Jest at Smelt House
“An evening of original clown performance” by clowning students - Say That Again at Dougherty Arts Center
Street dance-inspired choreographed + community dances w/live hip hop - Nosferatu Festival at Kick Butt Coffee + Holiday Inn
Celebrate horror classic w/batty bands, screenings, “garlic eating contest” - Lines for Liberation at the Vortex
Theatrical show about Black poetry, spoken word, + shaping our world - Yoke at Sterling Stage
Collaboratively devised, darkly comedic play about transformation + reflection
Saturday 2/28
- Fusebash at Distribution Hall
Fusebox gala w/immersive performances, curated food, + DJ - Dead Weird Film Fest at Hyperreal Film Club
Watch a big bunch of weird + short horror films, many by Texans - Austin Modern Home Tour at houses around town
Tour and see the insides of fancy modern houses around town - Celebrate Black ATX at Kenny Dorham’s Backyard
“Block party w/live music, DJs, food trucks, activations,” artists, + vendors - Lunar New Year at Mozart’s Coffee
Packed schedule of LNY dancers, drummers, musicians, + martial artists - Lunar New Year at OMG Squee
Celebrate LNY w/ponies (almost horses!), lion dances, giveaways, + food - Deadly Prey at the Museum of Human Achievement
See uniquely warped hand-painted Ghanaian posters of American films - Planet Parade at Hive Mind Studios
“Psychedelic art exhibition” w/DJs, live painters, + vendors - Hyde Park Storytelling at Batch
Storytellers ply their trade in a backyard w/ASL interpreter - Cupid’s Shuffle at the Jackalope
Dachshund races, “dog kissing booth,” costume contest, + vendors - Opening Day at Sherwood Forest Faire
Central Texas’ renaissance faire w/medieval food, arts, fun, + dress - Diet of Worms at Oscar G. Brockett Theatre
Watch a farcical play about our dysfunctional government - Gothwave Three-Year Anniversary Party at Coconut Club
DJs mixing indie dance + post-punk w/darkwave genres - RIP MTV at Mohawk
“MTV-inspired” acoustic live sets, “TRL-style photobooth,” + classic vids - Xpider Karaoke at the Highball
Karaoke w/many unique twists like “hard mode” where you sing acapella - Drag Me to the Tavern at Tiny Minotaur
Drag kings, queens, + knights perform in fantasy costumes - Texas Roller Derby at the Buda Thunderdome
Roller derbyists murderously smash their way through a banked track - Story-Oke at the Highball
Sing a song + talk about it. Basically DIY VH1 Storytellers - Say That Again at Dougherty Arts Center
Street dance-inspired choreographed + community dances w/live hip hop - West of Weird Art Tour throughout Dripping Springs
Artists all over Dripping Springs open up their studios + sell their work - Nosferatu Festival at Kick Butt Coffee + Holiday Inn
Celebrate horror classic w/batty bands, screenings, “garlic eating contest” - Lines for Liberation at the Vortex
Theatrical show about Black poetry, spoken word, + shaping our world - Yoke at Sterling Stage
Collaboratively devised, darkly comedic play about transformation + reflection
Sunday 3/1
- Lunar New Year at Meanwhile
LNY celebration w/themed crafts, vendors, craft beer, trad dances, DJ - West of Weird Art Tour throughout Dripping Springs
Artists all over Dripping Springs open up their studios + sell their work - Nosferatu Festival at Kick Butt Coffee + Holiday Inn
Celebrate horror classic w/batty bands, screenings, “garlic eating contest” - Lines for Liberation at the Vortex
Theatrical show about Black poetry, spoken word, + shaping our world
Tuesday 3/3
- Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at Bass Concert Hall
See a performance by one of modern dance’s most storied troupes
Wednesday 3/4
- Reel Science at the Long Center
Science-themed doc screening about caves w/related talk - Prosper XO at Capital Factory
Talks + networking about venue sustainability with CUC co-owners - Word Perv at Smelt House
Storytelling + variety show about gender + sexuality - Short Shakespeare at Trinity Street Playhouse
Short interpretations of Shakespeare, some from new perspectives
Thursday 3/5
- Testify at Barrel O’ Fun
Storytellers tell true stories about defying gravity
NHA271
Upgrade 3.0.6
This week on No Humans Allowed is another UPGRADE episode. We have a colorful array of tunes new to us to share with you. Bandcamp picks, vinyl rips, + other acquisitions.
Tracklist
Simple Minds – Hunter and the Hunted
Holy Fuck – Evie
Die Neue Weltmacht – Tanz ins Glück
Donny Benét – Midnight Appointment
Electronic System – Moog Jealousy
Asha Bhosle & Kishore Kumar – Jawani Ka Khazana
Jake Schrock – Trigon
Vicious Pink Phenomena – Ask Me to Stay
Noël – Dancing Is Dangerous
Cannons – Starlight
Magdalena Bay – Vampire in the Corner (Tom VR Edit)
Cola – Hedgesitting
Whisper – Turn Around
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. You can track all your favorite bands’ SxSW schedules on our web app FestWiz. Here are some of the bands we’re excited to see at this year’s fest:
Brian’s Pick of the Week
Tipa Tipo
Luscious technicolor “tropical yacht rock” from Peru
Leila’s Pick of the Week
Gwenno
Formerly in girl-group revival act the Pipettes, now making Cornish dream pop
Our Prior Picks
Adult DVD
UK synth sickos who aren’t afraid of ghilly suits and bombastic catchy tunes
Adult Leisure
Bristol-based indie band with catchy melodies, RIYL the 1975, the Midnight
The Tullamarines
Catchy Australian indie pop, RIYL the Wombats
The Haunted Youth
Big majestic M83 style pop w/post-punk edge to it, from Belgium
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 and Side by Sideshows 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.