When Charity Events Don’t Suck
The Rifles played an unplugged set at Cookies in Berlin, this little indie band from London, and it was actually good. It was a charity thing—all the proceeds going to Trekstock, which works with young people dealing with cancer—and usually those feel like obligations, like you’re being voluntold to have a nice time for a cause. But this one landed different.
The evening started at the Ben Sherman store down at Hackescher Markt with an exhibition of guitar picks. Signed ones, collected from bands and musicians for an auction that would kick off later. Mando Diao, Maximo Park, Michi Beck, some other names—they all showed up to sign something. The whole thing had this casual, almost understated energy. Not a big production. Just people who wanted to help out, showing up, signing a pick, moving on.
Then everyone moved to Cookies for the actual show. The Rifles played stripped down, no extra production, just the songs. There’s something about watching a band like that when there’s no stage machinery, no light show to hide behind—you either have it or you don’t. They had it. The room was packed, maybe 500 people, and you could feel it. The kind of show where you remember you actually like live music, where the whole point comes back.
The auction for the picks felt right too. Not framed as charity porn, not milking it. The idea was simple: these picks are signed, they’re going to a good cause, you can buy them if you want. Something small, portable, actually collectible. A guitar pick is basically nothing, but there’s something about a physical object that someone held and signed that hits different than just donating money to a website.
I came away thinking about how rare it is for these things to actually work. Charity events usually feel like they’re written by committee, designed to check boxes. This one had taste. Someone actually thought about what would matter—a good band, a venue that fits, merchandise that’s actual merchandise, not just stuff. And the cancer angle, which could’ve been maudlin, just sat quietly in the background. Trekstock gets the money. The band played. People bought signed picks. That’s it.