That time I handed out 80 zines at a punk show in one night

Last Saturday I set up a small table at a basement show in Portland with a stack of maybe 100 copies of my latest art zine about abandoned gas stations. By the third band I had given away or sold around 80 copies just from people flipping through while waiting for sets. The funniest part was watching two kids argue over the last copy of the fold-out map I included. Has anyone else had a zine really take off at a live event like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

sanchez.robin22d agoProlific Poster

Man, that's such a killer feeling when something you made connects with people like that. Nothing beats the energy of a basement show where everyone's already stoked and then they find your zine. I had a similar thing happen at a house show back in '19 with a little comic I did about bodega cats, must have handed out like 50 before the headliner even started. It's wild how a simple thing like a foldout map can spark that kind of argument, makes you feel like you really made something worthwhile.

barnes.morgan22d ago

Yeah, "nothing beats the energy of a basement show" is exactly right. That whole thing where people are already in that headspace, waiting between sets, it's like the perfect window. You catch them in that moment where they're open to anything, and then your little zine just fits right in. I think what makes it special is that it's not like selling stuff online where you're just a link in a void. You get to actually see someone's face light up when they find the weird detail you spent hours on, or see two people fighting over the last copy like you said. That fold out map thing you mentioned, it reminds me how sometimes the smallest gimmick can be the thing that gets people hooked. It's not about making something huge or professional, it's about making something that someone in a sweaty basement wants to take home and stare at later.