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The Clean Cigg is one who survives through out the turmoil of uncompassionate and lost individuals, who cannot take responsibilities upon themselves. Might as well blame the scapegoat. It is the Clean Cigg who strives on, does what is right and understands that humanity is full of suffering. It is the Clean Cigg who is compassionate and loves the one who hates and understands that it is ok to learn by the lessons of others.

I wanted to incorporate the imagery associated with what goes on backstage, while Puddle on Mudd was playing their headlining set at the Grove in Anaheim, with these photos.  I want to show the more technical side of what goes on behind the curtain, which is usually over glanced, or rarely seen by the crowd. Surprising there were only a few other individuals working back here. One man was helping out tuning the 5-6 guitars and basses, one was making sure no equipment would fall down on stage, and the other was just making sure the sound board wasn’t being touched by friends of the bands or other band members. Everyone had real a laid back attitude, except in one case where one of the other band members (not going to name names), who went on earlier and was heavily over intoxicated, started to yell to himself, “They loved me out there!” and nearly stumbled back on stage before he caught himself.

Businesses are continuously looking for alternative marketing tactics to bring about brand awareness and promote their product or service to their consumers. With a growing trend of using guerrilla marketing tactics across several industries, it is important for any company to look at all options of product placement in field. The Backstage Artist Lounge is a company that will help your brand be affiliated with world famous musicians and get your brand on stage where the public can awe in it’s glory. According to their company’s website, The Backstage Artist Lounge is a private lounge installed backstage at major music festivals where sponsors connect with talented bands for product sampling and relationship building opportunities. For more information please visit BackstageArtistLounge.com

The photos above show just a few of the sponsors associated with promoting their brand with the Backstage Artist Lounge. These photos were taken at the most recent NAMM music convention, held in Anaheim, California. NAMM is an event only open to those participating in the music industry or invited guests. It’s a highly respected trade show that musicians and industry leaders can come together and conduct business strategy.

Photos include; Katie Wade and Sarah Paget both co-producers for the Backstage Artist Lounge, as well as Christina Martin who founded the company. Jonathan Montoya, guitarist from well-known metal band Saliva, is also featured, aka the official rock star of the Back Stage Artist Lounge.

As you can see, they prove to bring out the meaning in the slogan, work hard play hard. It’s important to balance your lifestyle with work. Why not go out and celebrate your accomplishments. Balance in life is important.

What is it that we can do, in order to do what is right, with out being manipulated by other people? Follow your heart? I want to say yes, but I think it is also possible to have too much heart and it can control you into a direction of discomfort and anxiety. Maybe a balance of mind and heart…maybe this is the true way of having the freedom of the need to be free. There’s only one way to find out.

The Corona del Mar Christmas Walk was a huge success this year. Stores were packed with guests hungry to shop, eat and drink all kinds of different culture in the spirit of the holidays just around the corner. Art displays were storefront on the sidewalks and many of the proceeds were donated to charities. For example, the Newport Beach Arts Foundation was selling Guatemalan Hand-Made Beaded Jewelry. 100 percent of the proceeds went to worthy organizations in Guatemala, such as; schools, medical and dental programs, and water purification systems.  Another charity was organized by Texture hair saloon, which was donating $30 per cut to the invisible children fund.

The storefront displays in the so-called American Riviera gave a sense of a European essence, or maybe it was just the cheese, crackers and wine from Phoenician Stone. Either way this weekend was a unique experience.

Along with the art exhibits, were food displays outside of the local restaurants, as well as live performances from local musicians. Surf Rock was blasting outside of the of The Place, a village tavern to Corona del Mar locals, and The Newport Beach Blues Band played outside of Haagen-Dazs ice cream. All the bars were packed with Christmas cheer! Santa Clause was there too! Check out the pictures to get an idea of what it’s like to experience the Corona del Mar Christmas Walk.