Surf Music: August helps Martians present Champagne

On Sunday at Martians Café in Deans Marsh, I had the pleasure of watching 12-year-old local multi-instrumentalist Finnigan August, open up for Daniel Champagne.

Daniel is an outstanding guitar player/songwriter that tours the world. Sharing stages with the likes of John Butler, INXS and KT Tunstall.

Have you ever checked it out? Martians Café is strange! Pictures and memorabilia of aliens everywhere, I also noticed notorious bikie gang graffiti on the bathroom doors.

At the same time, it’s got a family-friendly vibe to it and lovely staff. It’s also got a lot of great music culture and history.

The concert was an event that made me feel a lot of love for music and ‘the humble yet accomplished’ breed of musician.

Here was a young local kid that works day in day out to practise his way to a high standard, opening up for the brilliant Daniel Champagne. It makes sense!

But it doesn’t always work like that.

There was something I read last night after I escaped the Martians.

It was a piece written by Ringo Star in ‘The Daily Rock Box’. He highlighted the fact that “If you want to open up for a well-known band you have to pay to play”.

He argued that well-known acts should be giving back to lesser-known acts.

Well Ringo my man, you may be the only lad to have written “Octopuses’ Garden” but you’re not the only muso giving back to the lesser known.

What are you waiting for? Go get your salty hands on Daniel Champagne’s latest CD “Fault Lines”.