Lite + Brite: 43 Kinetic Austin Events 7/31

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

We’re nearly three months out from some of our favorite weekends of the year: Austin Studio Tour! We bring this up now because applications to exhibit at AST are due next week. And if you’re an artist who wants to participate but you don’t have a space in mind, you can check out this directory of hosts looking for artists. When we get to November, we’ll create our full Austin Studio Tour guide, as always (here’s last year’s, if you’re curious), so stay tuned for plenty more on the matter.

Of course you don’t have to wait til November for reasons to leave the house. This week AFS is hosting the largest Black film festival in the U.S., followed by a festival of music films; meanwhile, over at Hyperreal, cat videos rule the roost. Open studios at Canopy this month includes a garage sale from Almost Real Things and a showcase of pieces made by artists experiencing homelessness. The natural yearning for year-round Halloween makes itself known through bands, drag, and improvised site-specific horror. I would say “beat the heat,” but the heat is in fact unbeatable, so let’s revise to say “make the heat slightly more tolerable” with PBS-flavored ice cream, concerts on kayak, and a free pool party. The summer of paloozas continues unabated. Best event name of the week goes to “Dad Hole.” Scroll down for more.

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

Last weekend we started things out by checking out We Luv Video’s anniversary block party on North Loop, like the good neighbors that we are. Vendors were vending despite the heat, DJs were spinning throwback 45s, beverages were flowing freely, the video store was PACKED and selling shirts like they were going out of style. Lots of folks were watching bands in the back at Howdy Gals’ excellently-curated live lineup. We got to watch Team Trust’s unpredictable poppy post-punk, our first time seeing them since SxSW, and while we missed the excellent Whisper (who have featured in past L+B playlists), they’re playing this weekend at Howdy Gals’ wrestling/live band mashup Hoedown Throwdown so we’ll get another shot. Anyway North Loop continues to be the North Loopiest place in Austin, if anyone was worried (we were not).

In other news, after many years of us listing it, Brian finally found his way to Classic Game Fest. It was well attended with many excellent costumes. The line to talk to Charles Martinet (the voice of Mario) was super long so we do not have a recording of him saying “It’s-a-me-uh, Lite+Brite,” but you can imagine it. Anyway the event was huge with vendors from Austin + all over the country selling vintage console cartridges and fun ephemera, and there were games aplenty thanks to Pinballz. We learned a little about the gaming crash of ‘83, met some of the original Atari 2600 game designers and got to play more games than you can shake a joystick at.

Last up, Brian returned to the airwaves after a break for our travels and did a No Humans Allowed show on Kpiss featuring some of the records he picked up while we were in England and Scotland. You can stream Upgrade 3.1 in the Kpiss archives.

EVENTS WE’RE EYEING

Friday 7/31

  • Analog: Collage at TOMO Mags
    Make collages at a magazine shop, supplies + ideas provided
  • Rolling Rave at the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge
    Cycle through Austin’s streets w/wheeled DJs + bridgetop rave
  • Wild Shape Night: Dino Island at Tiny Minotaur
    Dress up as a dinosaur, dino fan, or Sam Neill (RIP)
  • Latino Moonlight Serenades at the Texas Rowing Center
    Paddle out for a floating moonlit live musical performance
  • Hit Like a Girl at St. Elmo Springdale
    All-lady pro wrestling w/“ladies of the 80s tribute band”
  • Blind Contour at MASS Gallery
    Screening of an art film at DIY gallery space
  • Speak No More: Lovecraft at the Tavern
    “Immersive, site-specific, improvised event” inspired by eldritch horror
  • Kinetic Threads at the Dougherty Arts Center
    Contemporary dance works explore community connections
  • Passage at Smelt House
    Scifi radio-play turned theater-play centers on black holes + existence
  • Yer Gonna Die (Just Like Me) at Crashbox
    “Part one man show, part dead acting class”
  • Purple Martin Party at Greenlawn Crossing
    Half a million migratory birds flying in big ol clouds. Nature is cool
  • Pan African Film Festival at AFS
    Curated films from the “largest Black film + arts festival”

Saturday 8/1

  • Custom Bicycle Festival at South Austin Rec Center
    Custom bike competition w/DJs, live music, bike swap, lowriders
  • Pickle-Palooza at Zilker Brewing
    Sample pickles to help determine ATX “pickle supremacy”
  • Beat Street at HOPE Outdoor Gallery
    Watch classic breakdancing film w/DJs + graffiti vendors
  • Beitna First Anniversary Party at Justine’s
    SWANA music, dance, art, food + cocktails
  • Open Canopy Garage Sale at Almost Real Things
    Check out artists in their studios plus art garage sale
  • My Story at Art from the Streets
    See work from artists experiencing homelessness + hear their stories
  • Summerween at Cheer Up Charlie’s
    Look ahead to October w/spooky-themed drag, DJ, films, + vendors
  • Karaoke Underground at Knomad
    Sing karaoke to your favorite punk, indie + alt classics
  • Open Hours at the Sherwood Forest Zine Library
    An extensive library of zines in someone’s house, friendly cat included
  • Speak No More: Lovecraft at the Tavern
    “Immersive, site-specific, improvised event” inspired by eldritch horror
  • Kinetic Threads at the Dougherty Arts Center
    Contemporary dance works explore community connections
  • Passage at Smelt House
    Scifi radio-play turned theater-play centers on black holes + existence
  • Yer Gonna Die (Just Like Me) at Crashbox
    “Part one man show, part dead acting class”
  • Purple Martin Party at Greenlawn Crossing
    Half a million migratory birds flying in big ol clouds. Nature is cool
  • Pan African Film Festival at AFS
    Curated films from the “largest Black film + arts festival”
  • (weekly thru 8/23) Escape the Box at the Texas State Capitol
    Solve time-traveling puzzles w/friends while exploring the statehouse

Sunday 8/2

  • Yeehawties at Austin Motel
    Austin’s favorite queer 90s country DJs hit the pool w/drag performers
  • House of Deviants at the Baker School
    “Sapphic drag, pole, + burlesque” celebrates “delicious dykey deviance”
  • Magical Mind Mysteries at the Vortex
    Alliterative magic show for adults w/Magical Mystical Michael
  • Speak No More: Lovecraft at the Tavern
    “Immersive, site-specific, improvised event” inspired by eldritch horror
  • Pan African Film Festival at AFS
    Curated films from the “largest Black film + arts festival”
  • (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

Thursday 8/6

  • CatVideoFest at Hyperreal Film Club
    Cute cat videos make the jump from your phone to the silver screen
  • Austin PBS Community Day at Amy’s on Burnet
    PBS fundraiser w/kid activities, ice cream trick classes, + puppet storytime
  • Black History Hike at Pease Park
    Hike + learn about the Black history of Austin by moonlight
  • Fiasco Italio at Chess Club
    DJs + drag performers pay tribute to 80s italo-disco + Italy in general
  • Testify: Hot Mess at Barrel O’ Fun
    Storytelling about becoming the trainwreck we can’t look away from
  • Dad Hole at dadaLab
    Whimsical musical ponders the nature of masculinity + ridiculous quests
  • Malum Malus at the Vortex
    Pagan holiday-themed “occult-based burlesque performance art”
  • Sound Unseen at AFS
    Fest whose goal is to “spotlight music stories through the power of film”
  • (weekly thru 8/27) Movies on the Lake at Mozart’s
    Watch a big summer movie floating on a boat on the lake

Friday 8/7

NHA288
Upgrade 3.1

It’s time for another upgrade. Grab that floppy and join No Humans Allowed as we return after a couple weeks of traveling. Now you’ll get to hear all the lovely trinkets + discoveries from our time in the UK.

Stream Upgrade 3.1

Tracklist
Der Bürokrat – Body Talk
The Droyds – Girls on Pills
Konzept – Human Transmission (Cybotron mix 2)
Paycheque – Temporary Love
Tangerine Dream – Chronozon
Avana – Viaggio a Medina (Cap’ Sailing East)
Henry Badowski – The Inside Out
Laughter in the Garden – Clutching at Straws
Sim Fossil – Local Voltage
The Dance Kings – Climb the Walls (RFX Edit)
Arab Strap – You You You

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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