Lite + Brite: 43 Buffering Austin Events 7/24

Hello, what’s up, and welcome to the Lite + Brite newsletter.

When we stepped off a plane the other day, Austin came out to greet us with a big, humid hug. In all of our travel adventures (more on those in the “What We’re Up To” section below), we briefly forgot the reality of Texas July. 

But the city’s event proprietors weren’t taken by surprise by the hottest day of the summer like we were. They were ready to beat the heat with Christmas in July-themed burlesque, Halloween in July-themed vendor markets + costume contests, puzzles in the air-conditioned bliss of the state capitol building, poolside drag n DJs, + a floating showing of the Matrix. If you’ve already defeated the heat, you can move on to watching the Matrix without a pool (but with a costume contest), watching zillions of birds gyre across the sky, meeting the guy who voiced “It’s-a me! Mario!,” seeing a scifi radioplay about black holes, line dancing to punk tunes, dressing up like a dinosaur, or embracing the “warm blanket of grief.” 

Lastly it’s a good week for film-related anniversaries in Austin. Both We Luv Video and Hyperreal are celebrating anniversaries with parties + events. Hyperreal has the aforementioned Matrix rave plus they’re relaunching their VHS Zine with a bunch of fan-made trailers, and We Luv Video is shutting down North Loop to make a big video-loving block party. You can’t go wrong this week.

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

WHAT WE’VE BEEN UP TO

Did you know that other cities also have stuff going on? We’ve just returned from a UK trip full of  Glaswegian minimal wave, tiny owls, cuddly cattle, animatronic vikings, punk flea markets, ghost cats, kinematic anti-Soviet sculptures, + crumbling castles. We even took some photos. We say this newsletter is for people who like leaving the house sometimes, but maybe it should also be for people who like leaving the country sometimes? Discuss.

We’ve been traveling so had to skip a few radio shows, but check out this oldie but goodie from Brian’s archives that has never been more topical: Heatwave, a collection of scorching hot tunes.

EVENTS WE’RE EYEING

Friday 7/24

  • B-Scene: Buffering Reality at the Blanton
    Data-driven art, Y2k costumes, live music, DJ, + video rental store
  • Electrowhip at Elysium
    Dark techno, EBM, + industrial DJs from across TX
  • Matrix Rave at Hyperreal Film Club
    Hyperreal bday rave complete w/Matrix costume contest, DJ
  • Float Films: The Matrix at Austin Motel
    Dodge bullets from a float in a pool
  • Summerween at Thrift at the Warehouse
    Halloween in July w/costume contests, vendors, DJ, + live music
  • Frisky Business: Friskmas in July at Capt. Quack’s Soundspace
    Burlesque troupe inspired by Hawaiian shirt Santa + other festive matters
  • PowerPints at Radio East
    “Drink + learn things” at comedic talks on a variety of esoteric topics
  • Feast at Hyde Park Theatre
    “It’s a dinner party that’s also a one-woman show. It’s a cry of resistance against tyranny.”
  • Passage at Smelt House
    Scifi radio-play turned theater-play centers on black holes + existence
  • Fresh Squeezed Ounce of Opera at dadaLab
    Rapid-fire short operas for the modern short attention span
  • Purple Martin Party at Greenlawn Crossing
    Half a million migratory birds flying in big ol clouds. Nature is cool
  • Classic Game Fest at the Palmer Events Center
    Play/buy classic console games, live music + meet the voice of Mario

Saturday 7/25

  • Tour de Splash at the Boggy Creek Greenbelt
    Embrace yr inner child w/bike cruising, recess games, + splash pads
  • Butch Prom at Elysium
    “Live pageant, drag performances, dancing, community awards, vendors, + more”
  • 3rd Anniversary Block Party at We Luv Video
    North Loop block party w/live music, DJ, vendors, workshops, raffles, “kidz zone”
  • New Wave Hits Album Party at Volstead
    Listen to classic 80s albums + raise money for local nonprofits
  • Fantasy Flirts at Tiger Den
    Fantasy-themed nerdlesque, trivia, + themed beverages
  • Vampire Yard Sale at Kick Butt Coffee
    Spooky-themed vintage vendors, multiple bands, clown/vampire hybrid MC
  • Vibe Artisan Market at Distribution Hall
    Huge, mostly indoor artisan market w/vinyl DJs, food, + activations
  • Feast at Hyde Park Theatre
    “It’s a dinner party that’s also a one-woman show. It’s a cry of resistance against tyranny.”
  • Passage at Smelt House
    Scifi radio-play turned theater-play centers on black holes + existence
  • Fresh Squeezed Ounce of Opera at dadaLab
    Rapid-fire short operas for the modern short attention span
  • Purple Martin Party at Greenlawn Crossing
    Half a million migratory birds flying in big ol clouds. Nature is cool
  • Classic Game Fest at the Palmer Events Center
    Play/buy classic console games, live music + meet the voice of Mario
  • (weekly thru 8/23) Escape the Box at the Texas State Capitol
    Solve time-traveling puzzles w/friends while exploring the statehouse

Sunday 7/26

  • Austin Photo Walkers at Mueller Lake Park
    Join a crew of shutterbugs taking pics at the farmers market
  • Good Judy at Austin Motel
    Free pool party w/DJs + drag performers of all genders + sizes
  • Kinky Curly Coily Fest at Pershing House
    Live music, “natural hair education,” free haircuts, + vendors
  • Vibe Artisan Market at Distribution Hall
    Huge, mostly indoor artisan market w/vinyl DJs, food, + activations
  • Classic Game Fest at the Palmer Events Center
    Play/buy classic console games, live music + meet the voice of Mario
  • (weekly thru 8/23) Splash Dance at the Austin Motel
    Poolside aerobics with Austin’s most creative aerobics instructor
  • (weekly thru 8/23) Escape the Box at the Texas State Capitol
    Solve time-traveling puzzles w/friends while exploring the statehouse

Monday 7/27

  • Beat Sessions at Spokesman South
    Graffiti artists “pitted against each other in a competitive timed format”

Tuesday 7/28

Wednesday 7/29

Thursday 7/30

Friday 7/31

NHA152
Heatwave

No regular NHA this week due to our travel so here’s a very relevant ep from our archives…

It’s so hot here in Texas that even the bots are melting. Even our love turns to liquid. We’ve got no choice but to bust out some scorching hot tunes and crank the A/C.

Stream Heatwave

Tracklist
Dizzy Dee – War (Abel Nagengast Edit)
Wally Badarou – Keys
Tony Palkovic – Born with a Desire
Rocky and the Horrors – Sweet Diana Dance (Jaz Edit)
Precious Wilson – The Jewel of the Nile (OOFT Edit)
Donny Benét – Cappuccino
The Pool – Jamaica Running
Nocera – Summertime, Summertime
Buzz Compass – Copa for Fun
Cherry Laine – I’m Hot (Faux Love Edit)
Dream 2 Science – My Love Turns to Liquid
RFX – 夏天 Drift
Jack J – Only You Know Why
The Blue Nile – Heatwave

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.

SEE YOU NEXT WEEK, CHAMPIONS

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