Lite + Brite: 23 Glizzied Austin Events 7/3
Hello, what’s up, and welcome to the Lite + Brite newsletter.
The season of paloozas is upon us. In past issues of this newsletter, we’ve listed at most one, maybe two paloozas. This weekend alone we have fully three different paloozas: one of rescued animals, one of 90s tribute bands, and one of SUPs. The only thing dominating this week’s event listings more than paloozas are hot dogs. Hot dogs + a slip n slide, hot dogs + the World Cup, hot dogs + mythology, hot dogs + Cut Copy, hot dogs + Jersey Shore drag… it’s all in here. Has anyone ever considered a glizzy palooza? Or is that just too zeitgeisty to bear?
Otherwise, we’ll just note that we are not listing this Barbie Convention because tickets are too expensive, but we are listing this Björk drag night even though one-half of L+B harbors a deep distaste for Björk. (It’s Leila. Leila is the one-half. It is not Brian, he owns + enjoys numerous Björk albums + also likes the Sugarcubes and Björk’s 80s goth band K.U.K.L.)
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Let’s do fun stuff!
—Leila + Brian
liteandbriteatx.com
WHAT WE’VE BEEN UP TO
Sometimes people will try to tell you that Austin has ceased being weird. Clearly none of those people have ever seen a Ouiness (pronounced like weenis) concert. This past weekend Brian witnessed their performance at the Aristocrat Lounge featuring more than a dozen musicians spilling off the stage, playing everything from drums + guitars to an EWI and a keytar. Every song was improvised along with impromptu choreography from fans and band members writhing on the floor, gyrating in wiggle man suits, hula hooping, + playing with various ribbons. Truly a delightful spectacle. We don’t list regular live music shows because Showlist has that covered, but we encourage you to get out there and see some of the amazing live music on offer in this town any day of the week.
No Humans Allowed, Brian’s radio show on Kpiss, this week was all about the final years of the 90s indie + electropop scence leading us up to Y2k and the electroclash/indie sleaze future it predicted. Click here to listen.
EVENTS WE’RE EYEING
Friday 7/3
- Hawk Dog at Mohawk
Aussie indie legends DJ w/hot dog eating + live bands - Tortuga Nights Pirate Brothel at Elysium
Dress up as a pirate + see burlesque performers dressed as cutthroats - Peelander-Z Fundraiser Tournament at Austin Pinball Collective
Play pinball to raise money for Peelander-Z’s recovery - Glizzmas Eve at Tiny Minotaur
“Wet your dog hole” as “Holiday Frank sluices down the Glizzmas chute to bless our tummies with the warmth of his love” - First Friday Art Trail at HOPE Outdoor Gallery
Live music, DJs, vendors, + art exhibits at outdoor graffiti park - Uncensored at the Conroy Gallery
Uncensored art “celebrating uninhibited art + body positivity” - Gayer Than Showtunes at the Austin Playhouse
Queer burlesque performed to classic showtunes
Saturday 7/4
- Star-Spangled Fest at Auditorium Shores
Food trucks, family friendly activities, the symphony, + fireworks - Where’s the Beach?! at Cheer Up Charlies
Jersy Shore-themed party w/drag, beachwear, + 00s bangers - Doya Palooza at the Austin Farm Sanctuary
Rescue animal fundraiser w/live music, tours, vendors, + silent auction - Hole-A-Palooza at Hole in the Wall
What’s more American than grunge? Local bands play 90s covers - Paddlepalooza at Lou Neff Point
Watch the fireworks in a giant floating crew on the river - American Idiot at Elysium
Drag performances set to Green Day’s disillusionment w/the USA - Karaoke Underground at Knomad Bar
Sing karaoke to your favorite punk, indie + alt classics - Hot Dog Eating Contest at Hotel Vegas
Watch competitive glizzy guzzling, World Cup, + hear DJs - Weiner Roast + Splish Splash at the Cavalier
DJ, giant slip + slide, ice plunge, + “weiner roast” - Gayer Than Showtunes at the Austin Playhouse
Queer burlesque performances to classic show tunes
Sunday 7/5
- Yeehawties at Austin Motel
Austin’s favorite queer 90s country DJs hit the pool w/drag performers - (weekly thru 7/26) Splash Dance at the Austin Motel
Poolside aerobics with Austin’s most creative aerobics instructor
Tuesday 7/7
- Sleepaway Camp: The Midnight Mass Experience at State Theatre
Watch cult 80s horror film w/themed drag + costume contest
Wednesday 7/8
- Prosper XO at Capital Factory
Talks + interviews on the challenges facing musicians + artists
Thursday 7/9
- The Rabbit Hole at Fast Friends Beer Co.
Discuss your favorite rabbit hole topics w/curious people - Bjorksexual at Elysium
Nothing could divide L+B more than a drag tribute to Björk - (weekly thru 8/27) Movies on the Lake at Mozart’s
Watch a big summer movie floating on a boat on the lake
NHA286
Who’s Afraid of Y2k?
This week we’re featuring a mix of music from the 20th century’s fin de siècle with indie + electropop tunes that led us through the final years of the 90s into the 00s. Guitar pop bands experimenting with electronic instruments and synthpop pranksters blazed an interesting trail into the 200s. Listening now we’re struck with how much these tunes were brimming with overall optimism and looking forward to how technology would improve the world. Clearly, no one had yet coined the term “enshittification.”
Tracklist
The Orchids – Avignon
The 6ths – Pillow FIght w/Mitch Easter
The Famous Boyfriend – It Sounds as if You’re Falling Apart
The Durutti Column – Future Perfect
Creeping Jenny – Kitten in the Cabinet
Soviet – Modern Love
Flowchart – Flutter by Butterfly
Momus – The Anthem of Shibuya
Baxendale – Music for Girls
DMX Krew – Street Boys
Looper – Who’s Afraid of Y2k?
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, and Kristen Backor. We’re deeply grateful for your support, which allows us to do things like “pay our Beehiiv 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 Superfantastica for weird Austin places + things. 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 2026). 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.