HEY GANG, LET'S PUT ON A SHOW!
(or a potluck or a book club or a game night or a soccer game or a etc.)
by Strangers in a Tangled Widlerness
Zine #41 — May 2025
Hey Gang, Let’s Put On a Show is a short, cursory guide on how to organize different DIY events, and why now it’s more important than ever to do so.
Interacting with people online is great! It allows you to talk to people across the world, to check in with friends who for whatever reason can’t leave the house, to stay in regular touch with people whose schedules don’t match up with yours, to have entire conversations in the form of gifs of otters. It can be a great way to maintain social ties, but my god people, we need to hang out in person. We need local communities, we need to talk to each other without the mediation of a device made of rare earth minerals extracted by enslaved children and assembled in a massive sweatshop using software owned by a handful of evil billionaires and surveilled by every state and corporate power out there. Not always! But at least sometimes.
This is not just because making friends and hanging out with said friends is fun. Though, turns out, it’s great; people love it. It’s also the basis for actual community, the kind that can show up when someone’s sick, when someone has a baby, when someone’s threatened with deportation, eviction, or prison, or otherwise need support. The kind that can be called on when there’s a project that needs to get done, or art that needs an audience, kids that need to be cared for, a metaphorical (or literal) barn that needs to be raised, or cookies that need to be eaten. Creating these communities involves taking real world action; it even involves doing some work. The first step is getting people together. Where you go from there depends on you and your community, but it sure beats staying home arguing with a bot on a billionaire’s vanity project website.
If there’s already a strong community where you live, that you feel welcomed into, that’s fantastic, and any events you put on will be good for that community. If there isn’t one, this can help you build one, or at least create some space for it to exist. It’s not a one person job, but one person, or a small group of people can help kick things off. You don’t have to wait for other people to put on the events you want to attend. You can just organize them! Most DIY or collective spaces started because the people involved in them felt like the things they wanted weren’t being offered, and so they created them.
Maybe you want to put on a show, create an art installation, host a game night, organize a secret tunnel rave, perform a play, or plan an autonomous gathering like a book fair. Some events are going to have a lot more moving pieces than others, but at their core, most events require space, people to help plan it, and the equipment needed to run the event. This zine will cover some tips for organizing different kinds of events, but will focus in more detail on shows and DIY concerts.
DIY Concert or Dance Party
Shows, gigs, concerts, and performances are a staple of DIY spaces and culture. There are many ways to put on a show and the space that you do it in can change a lot about how the show happens. Putting on a show can feel daunting. There are a lot of moving pieces. You need a lot of equipment and you need the knowledge to run the equipment. Below we’re going to talk about some of the spaces a show can happen in and some of the essential components. Shows can be simple or really complicated to put together, and there is a whole little ecosystem of diy show spaces, bands, bookers, promoters, ect. We’re going to steer clear of talking about some of these components, because sometimes when things get too complicated they border on being professionalized and no longer DIY.
What You need
A Space
A Venue/Established Space
Perhaps the easiest and most straightforward place to put on a show, cause they probably have most of the stuff you’ll need. There are tons of DIY spaces that put on shows, from infoshops, to bookstores, to show spaces, to cafes. A lot of these spaces have regular programming and are usually stoked to host a show–and have the equipment to do so. If you’ve got a space like this, then likely all you need to worry about is getting some bands together. Different spaces operate very differently, which can feel very different. Some spaces might offer more autonomy and support than others. An anarchist infoshop or bookstore is going to run shows very differently than the local small show venue or cafe. In this author’s humble opinion, the best spaces for DIY shows are spaces that are going to offer a group support and infrastructure while giving the group the autonomy to run the show how they want to.
Advantages: They’ve probably got everything you need in regards to equipment. It’s an established space. They probably have the right occupancy permit and they probably have staff or volunteers who know how to do a lot of the stuff required to put on a show.
Disadvantages: It’s an established space, they’ve probably got rules you might like or not like, it can really border on DIY (depending on the venue), maybe the space isn’t all ages, maybe the space isn’t into sliding scale entry fees/no one turned away for lack of funds attitudes. Maybe the venue takes a huge cut of the proceeds or charges a costly booking fee that you can’t afford or makes the event less worthwhile, especially if the show is a fundraiser.
Someone’s House
A great option, depending on the house! You want to put on a show and, for whatever reasons, there aren’t good other space options. There’s a lot more work for this option, but also a lot more control over the experience. See the “What You Need” section for equipment you might need for this option. If you’re doing a show at your house, it’s important to think about talking to your neighbors. Let them know the show’s happening or even invite them. The best way to not have the cops called on your show for a noise complaint or something is to talk to your neighbours, build a relationship with them around hosting events and noise. It’s a great way to build communication and conflict structures with your neighbors that preempt having to potentially interact with law enforcement. It can also give you a good idea about which neighbours suck and which ones you can build better relationships with. Maybe a neighbor, who would normally call the cops, will feel much better about texting you if they have a problem if you go and talk to them about the show beforehand. Maybe they don’t approve, but will feel better about the noise if they know it will be over by a certain time.
Advantages: You get to totally control the environment and vibe of the show, what it costs, what bands play, what the space feels like, and how the money generated from the show works. It’s a great opportunity to build community with your neighbors.
Disadvantages: The stakes are higher if something goes wrong, since it’s someone’s house. Many a housing situation has been altered by hosting shows. You have to tell people where the show is, which depending on the vibes of the house, can limit where, and how, the show gets advertised. If the house runs shows often, a lot of these concerns might have more predictable outcomes. There’s a higher chance of the cops coming for noise complaints. There’s more legal red tape to think about.
Elsewhere
A great secret-third option for a way to host events is to do it elsewhere. Where exactly is “Elsewhere?” Wherever you decide. Is Elsewhere a convenient way to talk about any place that might be sketchy? Maybe. If there were still functional commons in the world, they would be part of Elsewhere. BLM land could certainly be considered Elsewhere. A big thing to think about for hosting a show Elsewhere could be power, but there are a slew of very mobile and quiet electrical generators on the market these days that make power a pretty easy complication to overcome. Who doesn’t love a generator show or rave in a tunnel? A beautiful thing about an event held Elsewhere is that anyone could have organized it, including you. Maybe Elsewhere turns into the site of impromptu art installations where raw materials and the canvas of the site have been provided to anyone who shows up. And maybe that art installation is now the perfect container for a show or dance party.
Advantages: It’s fun! It’s whimsical! You get to control most aspects of the show. It’s easier to create anonymity around who organized the event. There is potentially less of a personal stake in how things go–at least insofar as someone’s house being on the line.
Disadvantages: There could be a lot of work that goes into scouting and figuring out logistics for the event–the plus side being that you get to learn more about scouting and logistics! Also maybe Elsewhere is sketchy. We don’t know. You chose it.
Bands/DJs
Odds are that if you’re trying to put a show together, that you know at least one band. Maybe you’re in a band or want to start one. Looking for bands for a show can be a great way to make new friends and build connections with people you might not normally be around. Look for bands with a similar vibe or not!
Equipment
Equipment can get really complicated really quickly, but here are some basics if you don’t know much about what you’ll need to do a show. Most bands playing the show are going to already have a lot of the equipment that they need to perform. It can be really handy to set up a backline, though, especially if some bands only have practice level gear that isn’t as suitable for performing. Having a backline can also really reduce the transition time between bands and the need to store/transport additional gear. Some bands on tour are going to require a certain amount of gear to be on the backline. A backline can consist of anything, but will typically include a drum kit and amplifiers for instruments. With amps on the backline, musicians can just plug their instruments in and adjust the levels/sound accordingly. Organizing a backline with bands can be a great way to set up a show when the bands involved don’t have show-grade equipment. Vocals are usually run through a PA system. PAs are usually provided by the space, as they can be cumbersome to transport, although if you’re setting up a DIY show and don’t have a PA system, it’s likely one of the bands that is playing has one. PA systems can be incredibly complicated or really simple. At their core, PA systems provide amplification for vocals and can consist of a single powered speaker with a microphone connected to it.
PA System
A PA system is usually provided and set up by the space that’s hosting the event. A PA is what is going to amplify vocals as well as provide inputs for some instruments like keyboards and synthesizers. In reality, most instruments can end up getting plugged into a pa system, but guitars and basses are usually run through dedicated amplifiers. Sometimes dedicated amps, drums, and instruments that don’t have pickups (places to plug cables) need to be mic’d. During shows, it’s great to have a dedicated sound person who monitors the mixer, adjusts levels, and makes sure nothing is getting overloaded. Here are the basic components of a pa system.
Speakers: sometimes these are active and sometimes they’re passive. Powered speakers are active and have built-in amplifiers. Powered speakers can be used without any other devices, although this limits the number and type of things that can be plugged into them. Passive speakers require a mixer and a separate amplifier.
Mixer: A mixer mixes sound. It’s a board with a lot of knobs, sliders, and ports for cables. A mixer allows you to plug a lot of different inputs into one device and adjust all of the levels to suit your needs. That mix then gets routed to the speakers. A mixer is what all of the microphones for vocals are going to get plugged into. If the mixer is going to powered speakers, it doesn’t need an amplifier. If a mixer is routed to passive speakers, there will need to be an amplifier between the mixer and the speakers. A mixer can route sound for almost any instrument with the correct cables and setup:
Vocals
Keyboards/synthesizers
Mic’d acoustic instruments like horns, drums, violins, ect.
DJ controllers
Cables and Mics: There are so many varieties of cables and mics. Most of the cables that will be used in these systems are ¼” cables and XLR cables. ¼” cables are typically for plugging instruments in while XLR cables are typically used to connect microphones. But there are so many variations that will depend on the individual pieces of equipment. But count on needing a couple XLR cables and a couple ¼” speaker cables for most setups.
Promotion
Make a cool flyer and post it around! Maybe you know a rad artist that wants to help design the flyer. The look of a flyer can really draw people into—or dissuade them from—attending an event. If a show is at someone’s house or in a secret location then it can be difficult to figure out how to promote the show without making the location as publicly available. A lot of groups get around this by listing a Google voice number with a message or Tinyurl that dispenses the coordinates or directions to an event. Choosing how and where to promote an event can be difficult, especially depending on the location of the event. Getting creative with promotion can really bring new people to an event, though, that might not normally hear about an event.
Help
It takes a lot of people to run a show! Here are some roles that it’s helpful to have filled by someone who’s helping organize the show. If you’re booking shows at a DIY space then asking for volunteers to help with some of these tasks is a great way to get volunteers involved in a space. These kinds of volunteer roles help invite people into participating in creating spaces.
Setup: Regardless of what space a show is in, it can take a lot of work to set up sound systems, make space for bands, load in equipment, or whatever other physical preparations you want to make.
Door: A little table by the entryway to the space. The people working the door are sort of the faces of an event in that it’s the easiest place for people to go to for information. The door is a great place for information, donation jars, flyers for other events, earplugs, and masks.
Sound: This was covered above, but the sound person works with the bands to make sure the sound all sounds right and that the pa system is working properly.
First-aid: Shows can get rowdy! It’s good to have a first-aid kit and someone who’s trained to use it. Bumps, scrapes, and bloody noses are not uncommon at rowdy shows. Have narcan, and know how to use it. Having condoms doesn’t hurt either.
Conflict Response: What if there’s a fight? What if the cops/neighbors show up? It’s good to have people who are comfortable talking to others about difficult things around in case something goes wrong. These folks can wear ribbons to make them easy to find. If the cops show up, do what everyone should do when that happens: don’t talk to them or let them into the space! There are better, and more in depth, guides for interacting with the cops than can be covered in this mini-zine. But if the show is at an established space or someone’s house then having someone who’s part of that space present for interactions with law enforcement can be a good idea sometimes. If the show is happening Elsewhere, then it’s great if no one knows who organized the event. And don’t tell the cops if you do know!
Potluck
This is a great type of event if you have a space, want people to have a long, leisurely hangout where everyone can eat and talk, but you don’t want to do all the cooking. Potlucks can be pretty much open invitation, but it’s wise to plan a little bit in terms of who’s bringing what. Try to have a guess as to how many people will be there (how many can your space accommodate?) and ask people to get in touch about what to bring. Keep a list so that it doesn’t end up all dessert (unless it’s a dessert potluck, idk I’m not your dad), and if people ask what to bring, tell them what things aren’t being brought yet.
Ask people to stay away from common allergens, OR at the very least, to let you know what ingredients are in a thing, so that you can make a big ol’ CONTAINS PEANUTS sign for their peanut butter and peanut cake. You can also do this for animal products, or anything else people might be averse to consuming. If someone has a truly severe allergy where they can’t even be in the same room as a particular ingredient, let people know so they don’t feel like an asshole when they show up with Anaphylaxis Salad.
Clear out as much fridge space as possible beforehand, get a couple coolers with ice in them; those are for drinks, so that the fridge can accommodate food.
If you want people to bring booze or not bring booze, say so. Some people are always going to default to bringing a six pack of beer to a potluck, and that’s very much ok, but some other people don’t like being at events where alcohol is around, so just let people know if that’s the case.
Make whatever is your favorite crowd-pleasing recipe, and if you don’t have one, start trying some out. Think about what food YOU most like to see at a party, and find a good recipe for it.
Try and ask a few people to stay and help clean up at the end. People are usually cool about this. Someone who has reached their conversational limits might just start doing dishes midway through the party if you’re lucky. Also, if you’re reaching your conversational limit, take a break to do some dishes.
That’s it, you did it, you had a potluck!
Park Hangout
This is a great, mostly free, relatively covid-safe way to gather people. You can do it around a particular interest or community (Anarchist Picnic! Bird Watchers’ Park Gathering! Fans of Early 90s Sci Fi Chillfest!) or just do it within friend groups.
Start by deciding where, when, and give yourself a fallback plan for if the weather is terrible. Then, put out the word, using flyers, online invitations, signal chats, word of mouth, or a combination. Ask people to show up, and to bring something to sit on. That’s it, that’s the bare bones of a park (or beach!) hang. From there, you can get more elaborate by bringing (or asking people to bring):
Food.
Music (instruments, or bluetooth speakers).
Games (can be chill-ass stuff like a frisbee to toss around, or intense games of pick-up soccer or whatever; if you have the things you’ll need ready, people can just go as the vibes take them. Does anyone still do hackey sack? I have no idea, but there’s only one way to find out, and that’s by bringing a hackey sack and seeing if people want to kick it around).
The important thing to remember is that the park is going to do a lot of the work here. People love being outside on a nice day, and it’s a great way to hang out without necessarily having a focused activity. If you’re feeling antisocial, suggest people bring books to read by themselves, together. There’s really a lot of flexibility here. If you’re the organizer, and someone makes a suggestion go with it even if soccer isn’t really your thing or knitting in the park seems like a waste of a bunch of cool rocks to climb on. You’re trying to make a space where people are having fun together, and you’ll have more fun and be more satisfied yourself if that’s the outcome.
Things to keep in mind:
Is your park hang one at which any of the following are specifically welcome or unwelcome:
pets
children
alcohol
drugs
It is absolutely fine to have any of those be welcome or unwelcome but it is important to make that clear beforehand to anyone who might attend, and to be aware of laws in your area regarding open containers and off-leash dogs. You don’t always have to follow rules, but it’s good to know which ones you’re breaking. On that note, some parks have rules about getting a permit for gatherings above a certain size; know what those rules are too, and if the park police or regular police show up, know that it’s your job to interact with them. Sorry, that’s what you get for organizing a picnic. It’s ok, the other thing you get is a picnic, so it’s usually worth it.
Bring some big garbage bags and a couple pairs of gloves; you’re packing out all your trash and you should pack out any trash that was there before you got there too, leave better than you found it etc.
Game night
This is where some people come to a specific location and play board or card games or TTRPGs. It’s fun. It’s not physically demanding; the whole thing can be done sitting down, and it’s kind of a social easy mode for people who have a hard time socializing; you have something collaborative or competitive to focus on together, which is great for a group of people who don’t yet know how to hang out with each other.
The first rule of game night is don’t be mad if people don’t actually play the game. If people are there and having fun, that’s a successful game night! Don’t stress it.
The second rule of game night is bring a few games, and decide QUICKLY on which game you are going to play. If someone is truly enthused about a game, that’s a really good thing; get them to explain it to everyone else. Come in knowing how to play at least one of the games on offer yourself, and insist that EVERYONE be endlessly patient with anyone who is learning the rules.
The third rule of game night is you do not have to finish the game.
The fourth rule of game night is remember that the utility of game night is to help people who are a little socially awkward and/or don’t know each other very well hang out and get to know each other and get more comfortable. If you have a bunch of dedicated old friends who love to play board games or TTRPGs that’s absolutely great, but putting together a game night for people who are NOT those people can be really useful.
The fifth rule of game night is playing any boardgame in a house with a cat is entering into absolute Chaos Mode but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it.
The sixth rule of game night is if people absolutely insist on playing for money, the amounts should be low enough that no one is going to get mad about it. I am talking pennies here. If someone wins big at your game night, they can pick up a soda on their way home. Do not turn this into a casino; that way lies frustration and people being mad at each other.
Book club
Oh man this one’s EASY. Get a group of people. Pick a book. Read the book. Meet up. Talk about the book, or don’t. Repeat.
You can do this for books that are purely for fun, or for some form of education. You can do both, switching back and forth between cool-ass genre fiction where dragons solve mysteries in space or whatever and dense political theory. You can meet in a park, restaurant, cafe, someone’s house, a library conference room, or a bar. I’m not sure why but a lot of book clubs double as thinly veiled excuses for day-drinking. If that’s your thing, go for it! If not, maybe don’t meet in a bar.
A successful book club meeting is one where everyone gets to share their thoughts on the book. Sometimes a book that absolutely everyone hates makes for a great discussion! What’s important for you as the organizer to do is notice if everyone is getting a chance to speak. If someone is talking over people, and someone else is not getting a word in, try to interject something like “wow Tabithania, what a great analysis of post-Marxist neo-terracottaism. I want to make sure Edifant gets a chance to speak up though; Edifant what did you think of the author’s arguments about lunar wheat farming?”
Once a month is a great number of times to meet. It gives people time to read the book. How you pick the book is up to you, but a lot of book clubs take turns suggesting books, or vote on them. The problem there is that sometimes people can end up feeling very invested in whether or not the rest of the group likes the book they wanted to read; this can lead to hurt feelings, so it can be good to have an arbitrary way of picking books too.
Try to write down lists of questions you have, or topics you want to discuss as you read. You’re not doing this so that you can be sure to get to absolutely all of these, you’re doing it so that if no one else is eager to start a conversation, you can prompt things along by saying “I thought it was so fucking sick when the dragon set the Space Emperor on fire. Did it remind anyone else of the scene in that other book we read, where the dragon pushed the Fire Emperor into space?” Get the conversation moving.
If the conversation drifts from the book, let it.
If you’re meeting at a bar, restaurant or cafe, tip like absolute motherfuckers. You are taking up a table for a long time and you need to compensate the staff for that. Do not throw glasses at each other no matter how wrong Tabithania is about lunar wheat farming.
Put On a Performance
Putting on a performance of any kind can be incredibly entertaining or educational to audiences. Maybe your performance is a play meant to dazzle and amuse an audience or maybe your performance is a puppet show meant to do popular education. Putting on a performance of any kind can be incredibly complex or incredibly simple depending on the production. It’s best to start simple, though. If you want to perform a play, you’ll only really need a few things. And it’s really surprising how many things like sets, costumes, puppets, and props can be made out of cardboard, glue, and paint. Your performance doesn’t need to be elaborate. It just needs to be fun. Performing with people is an incredible way to become new or better friends with people. And who knows, maybe it will grow into something more complex or elaborate.
A script: There are a ton of things already written and in the public domain. Some scripts might need to be abridged or altered–and it’s perfectly find to do that! Find the story you want to tell–or at least one that’s close enough that you can alter it. You can also write your own script, but this obviously takes some more work. It can be useful to have a director, but depending on the group of performers, directing can also be a decentralized task that various people help with. The performers of any production should be involved in helping create and direct it.
Performers: Whether your performers or actors, puppeteers, dancers, or musicians, performers of some kind are necessary. Talk to your friends or invite people that could become your friends. Maybe some of the performers are good at making costumes, while others are excited about building puppets, or scenery pieces.
Space: Don’t let not having access to a fancy theater stop you from putting on a play. The park is a great place to put on a performance. There are many long-standing productions of puppet shows that consist of people bringing their puppets, a PA system, and a generator to the park.
Set: A set can be as simple as some painted free-standing flats of cardboard that provides basic scenery and hides the performers who are not onstage.
Costumes: Depending on the setting of your play or performance, costume can be as simple as clothes from a thrift store or as complex as wearable puppets made out of cardboard.
Build a Container
Regardless of the event, one of the most beautiful things about hosting DIY events is that it’s a deep anarchistic practice. Hosting events is a labor of building a container that allows people to feel invited to participate not only in the event, but also in its creation. Some events can be organized in ways where no one knows who organized the event, but where the container of the event has been crafted to allow anyone who enters it to feel invited to participate in it in ways that are suggested by the secret organizers or invented by the individual participating in the event. Not all events need to–or should–be organized in secret, but events that invite the attendees to participate in a more than experiential way are events that can really stick with people. The container of any event, whether it’s a bookclub, sports game, or secret tunnel rave should feel welcoming and comfortable for anyone who’s attending it and leave attendees wondering about what events they would like to help create and organize next.