Lite + Brite: 39 Fiery + Bloody Austin Events 3/6
Hello, what’s up, and welcome to the Lite + Brite newsletter.
SxSW starts on Thursday, and we want to make sure you have a full grasp of the festival resources we’re providing this year:
- FestWiz is our SxSW band tracking, rating, and scheduling app. Now including 2,000+ official and unofficial performances, 1,000+ bands, and Brian’s top picks, this is THE APP for planning your week in music.
- Our SxSW playlist includes 26 bands we’re most excited to see at the fest (playable in Spotify, Apple Music, + YouTube). We also have more picks down below.
- Our guide to SxSW for Austin residents gives a brief and clear birdseye view of the whole thing.
Even before SxSW unleashes itself upon our fair city, we have a solid week of events before us, including a puppet-forward meditation on parking lots, conspiracy board-style presentations, a party for knights who say “Ni!”, a soundbath in a tree house, karaoke on a bus, bouquet making with goats, Shakespeare + champagne, and a bunch of other things which hopefully won’t get cancelled due to the predicted rain, but always double-check before going out.
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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 1,000+ bands and a schedule with 2,000+ official and unofficial shows. More shows + bands are added daily.
- Seeded by our picks if you don’t have time to listen to 300 bands
- 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 over 100 artists on FestWiz. Brian has rated over 300. You don’t have to rate any, but you CAN, and isn’t that beautiful?
EVENTS WE’RE EYEING
Friday 3/6
- Monty Python Night at Tiny Minotaur
Dress up, gather some coconuts, + ready your movie quotes, kuhniguts - The Lone Star Circus Roulette at Smelt House
Short, circus-inspired theatrical plays assembled in a random order - MASS Ambient Soundbath at the Pease Park Treehouse
Live ambient music soundbath in a park. Sounds relaxing - Fire + Blood at Fortune Teller
Burlesque + fire performers inspired by dark magic, w/DJ, tats, + tarot - Literature Through the Lens at Alienated Majesty
“Weird literary adaptations projected from 16mm film” - Diet of Worms at the Brockett Theatre
Watch a farcical play about our dysfunctional government - Harry Styles Party at Cheer Up Charlies
Harry Styles listening party followed by Harry Styles drag party - Miami Vice 89 at Ani’s Day + Night
Burlesque performers inspired by 80s Floridian masterpiece Miami Vice - Shopping Center of the Universe at the McCullough Theater
Parking lot life reimagined via cardboard sculpture, puppets, reflection - Short Shakespeare at Trinity Street Playhouse
Short interpretations of Shakespeare, some from new perspectives - Yoke at Sterling Stage
Collaboratively devised, darkly comedic play about transformation + reflection
Saturday 3/7
- Hear Me Out… at the Museum of Human Achievement
Hear unhinged talks w/conspiracy board + yarn accompaniment - Games Y’all the Museum of Human Achievement
Indie game devs + fans meet up to try out games in progress - It’s My Park Day at parks throughout Austin
Volunteer to improve parks across Austin + get freebies - UnFOUseen Circumstances at the Vortex
“Psychedelic cartoon clown cabaret” reflects on life’s mysteries - Black Women’s History Bike Ride at the Carver Museum
Bike + learn about Black women in Austin history - Bloom + Baas at Austin Farm Sanctuary
Chill + learn to make bouquets while you hang with goats - ART Bus Karaoke Tour at Canopy
Tour Austin art stops while singing karaoke in a party bus - Lunar New Year at Liberty Bar
Imbibe + watch some traditional LNY lion dancers - Three-Year Anniversary Party at Golden Mean
Vintage vendors, vinyl DJs, cyanotype prints, tarot + aura readings - TEDxUTAustin at Hogg Auditorium
UT-organized TED-adjacent talks + performances - Karaoke Underground at Knomad
Sing karaoke to your favorite punk, indie + alt classics - Darkwave Disko at Elysium
DJs spinning darkwave, goth, electro, + post-punk - Body Mechanics Five Year Anniversary at 4211 Todd Ln.
DJs happily blurring the lines between a dance party + a fetish party - Midnight Rodeo at Chess Club
Country + disco drag, DJs, + dancing (not in that order) - Retro Market at the Highball
Retro vendor market w/retro game station + “90s cosplay contest” - Shopping Center of the Universe at the McCullough Theater
Parking lot life reimagined via cardboard sculpture, puppets, reflection - Short Shakespeare at Trinity Street Playhouse
Short interpretations of Shakespeare, some from new perspectives - Yoke at Sterling Stage
Collaboratively devised, darkly comedic play about transformation + reflection
Sunday 3/8
- Short Shakespeare: Champagne Closing at Sekrit Theater
Short interpretations of Shakespeare in arty outdoor space - 16th Annual Garden Party at the Vortex
Put the Butterflies in Butterfly Bar w/plants, live music, petting zoo - The Jans at Lab Theatre
Reading of a new interactive play, combat boots optional - Campfire Queer Storytime at the Vortex
Queer storytelling + live readings for those aged 18-110 - Yoke at Sterling Stage
Collaboratively devised, darkly comedic play about transformation + reflection
Monday 3/9
- ATX Short Film Showcase at 29th St. Ballroom
The films are short, the filmmakers are Texan + of varying heights - Queer Two-Step Night at Sagebrush
Learn to two-step w/the Neon Rainbows crew + DJs
Tuesday 3/10
- The Austin Salon at 1109 Angelina St.
Thoughtful talks + discussions on the nature of love + compatibility
Wednesday 3/11
- Paws for Public Art at UT Austin
Public art + pettable critters combine forces for mental health - If You Really Love Me, Outlive Me at East End Ballroom
Watch prescreening of a doc about a local musician + see him play
Thursday 3/12
- Monster’s Ball at 4211 Todd Ln.
Monstrous “installation filled warehouse” w/games, photobooth, DJ - Stories on the Lawn at Neill-Cochran House Museum
Comedians + storytellers w/Moth-style stories about doggos - Congress Ave Block Party at Congress + 9th St.
You don’t need a badge to get free snacks + swag. Free snacks for all!
NHA271
Upgrade 3.0.6
In the last episode of No Humans Allowed was another UPGRADE episode. We’ve got 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
Sassy 009
Norwegians blending shoegaze + trip hop for frosty late night vibes
Leila’s Pick of the Week
Panic Shack
Shouty gal pals here for a good time, for fans of HINDS or Lambrini Girls
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
Tipa Tipo
Luscious technicolor “tropical yacht rock” from Peru
Gwenno
Formerly in girl-group revival act the Pipettes, now making Cornish dream pop
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.