R90 Lighting University – Episode 2
Welcome to back to our ongoing “educational” series, R90 Lighting University! Your serious source for mastering the basics of event lighting in the most effortless way possible.
Wildlands 2025
R90 Lighting was asked to provide the lighting support for the Wildlands Festival in Big Sky, MT. Set against the breathtaking backdrop of Lone Mountain, the festival brings together world-renowned musical artists, local communities, and environmental leaders for a multi-day celebration of culture, nature, and sustainability.
Blastfest 2025
R90 Lighting returned to Fisher Pavilion at the Seattle Center for Blastfest 2025, Seattle’s premier Afrobeats music festival. This was our third year in partnership with the festival and we couldn’t be more pleased with the results! This festival also holds a special place for us, as the lighting was designed by our dear friend Davis Alexander, who passed away earlier this year. The lineup included Adekunle Gold, Fireboy DML and Odumodublvck, Wande Coal, Daliwonga, Moliy, and festival founder BLAST himself.
R90 Lighting University – Episode 1
Reactive Lighting Systems with the ADJ Lighting Starburst Welcome to the premiere of R90 University, your serious source for mastering the basics of event lighting in the most effortless way possible. In Episode 1, we unlock the secrets of Reactive Lighting Systems with the ADJ Starburst. Industry veterans will recognize this fixture as the most versatile lighting instrument on the market in 2015. In this video you’ll learn the ins and outs of how to get the absolute most out of your ADJ Starburst so you can achieve the most professional lighting looks that will leave your audience mesmerized. PRODUCTION CREDITS This episode of “R90 University” was produced in collaboration with our sister company: Positive Systems – Immersive LED Video Wall Productions – Positive Systems“Talent”: James McKenna – R90 LightingVideo Wall & Camera Systems: Positive SystemsDirector / Editor: Kellen Parnell (Positive Systems)Camera Operator: Mitchel SchaabShader: Mary Hall Check out this highly informative video below and stay tuned for future episodes of this remarkable series.
Easter in the Spotlight
R90 Lighting was egg-static to be selected as the lighting vendor for the Canyon Hills Community Church Easter service celebration at the fabulous Angel of the Winds Arena. Complete with musical performances by Canyon Hill Worship. If there’s one thing we believe in, it’s dramatic lighting and divine timing. This year’s Easter celebration was given the full Sunday-best lighting treatment with a compliment of: Controlled through Obsidian EN4 and EN12 optos with Luminex Gigacore 16t switches by (2) grandMA3 Full Size. At the helm of this lighting rig was Canyon Hills Community Church Production Designer and Lighting Director, Garret Parker. R90 also provided all of the rigging, including (58) motors. R90 Lighting Production Manager, Rachid Schultz oversaw the project. Captaining the lighting build was the always impeccable Levi Plumb with support from Systems Tech Maryalice Weed. Our brilliant on-site techs consisted of Eugene Cognoman, Tyler Joyce, Kimmy Hartman, Krisjanis Lusis, Sawyer Moe, Dwight Upton-Francis, and Ryan Dunn. Canyon Hills Community Church FOH and Production Manager: Stephen Pelatzky Production rigging and rigging labor provided by Precision Productions Inc. Audio provided by Morgan Sound Cameras and Video Wall provided by DC Productions From load-in to final cue, this Easter production was no yolk. Huge thanks to Canyon Hills Community Church and the entire team for letting us hatch something truly special. With a full basket of gear, a cracking crew, and lighting sunny-side up, we were thrilled to help make this celebration shine. Until next time: stay eggstra!
Maiden Voyage of the Paragon M
38 of our brand new Elation Professional Paragon M shining bright and ready for their first concert! Unless Victor Zeiser at Squeek beats us to it, these will be the first major show in the US to feature the new Paragon M! Our onsite team consisted of Levi Plumb , Dwight Upton , and Brian Milliner who didn’t have a single hiccup with these new units. We look forward to seeing these in action over the coming months! Please reach out for booking and availability!
Elation Paragon M Unboxing
We’re super excited to put the new Elation Paragon M into one of our designs! We’ve received our first batch of 40 fixtures from Elation Professional just in time to load them up for a private event with Gwen Stefani! Starting March 29 R90 Lighting will have the Elation Paragon M available in our rental fleet here in Seattle, WA. The Paragon series offers an IP54 weather protection with 37,000 lumens of output in a fully featured profile format with all of the bells and whistles. It also offers the ability to change out the front lens to offer a PC beam and a Fresnel option in the same fixture.
KMFDM – 40 Year Anniversary Tour
Energized by the overwhelming response to the KMFDM – Let Go 2024 Spring tour, the band reunited this past October to deliver another round of sonic ferocity. Fans from the East Coast to the Midwest gathered to celebrate 40 years of the world’s rotation to the Ultra Heavy Beat. The tour kicked off in Milwaukee at The Rave and concluded with back-to-back nights at the legendary Metro Chicago, showcasing 40 songs across 15 shows. By rotating the setlist each night, no two performances were identical, with songs handpicked from a 23-album-deep discography and the MDFMK side project. R90 Lighting once again provided tour lighting support, continuing an 11-year strong partnership with KMFDM. This marks the eighth tour that R90 Lighting has been a part of with the band. Tasked with illuminating the auditory onslaught was KMFDM’s lighting director and reason-for-the-global-gummy-bear-supply-chain-shortage, James McKenna. Inspired by a single YouTube comment criticizing the lighting designs for KMFDM being too similar over the years, James set out to create something fresh. Pleased with his creation, he sent the design to Megan Moelhman, who was acting as L1 on this build. Megan’s response upon seeing the design? “That’s impossible.” Undeterred, she engineered custom lighting carts to make the impossible possible. The result was a powerhouse setup in a compact frame, with towers designed to roll into place and simply plug in—no fuss. The load-in process took a mere 48 minutes with four hands from cracking the trailer until the rig was fully flashed. This efficient setup allowed us to produce a show that felt massive, even in venues lacking substantial house lighting rigs. The show was feverishly programmed over about two weeks before the tour began, with each of the 40 rotating songs individually programmed cue to cue. Megan did a phenomenal job translating the madness of James’ design into reality. We’ve attached some photos below of the wing truss carts to give you a better idea of how narrow the margins were for mounting all those lights into a 4’x2′ footprint. The rig itself consisted of Showtec Sunstrips, Elation Sixbar 1000IPs, Elation Paladin Panels, Robe Spikies, Chauvet Ovation F-95 WW Fresnels, Chauvet Ovation F-415 VW Fresnels, GLP Impression X4 Washes and GLP JDC1s. The show was programmed on and operated on a ChamSys MQ500M with a ChamSys MQ80 as backup. It takes a village, but we’d like to thank one person especially for helping get the tour equipment prepped and ready to roll, and that’s Brad Teigen. Brad worked tirelessly to make sure the equipment was in proper working order, which was no small task considering the wear and tear on some of our older units. Thanks, Brad! Check out some of the shots below!
SEIU – 2024
Representing a diverse array of workers in the service sectors, SEIU is one of the largest labor unions in the United States. The Service Employees International Union focuses on issues such as fair wages, healthcare access, and job security. SEIU’s commitment to social justice extends beyond the workplace, encompassing broader initiatives aimed at advancing economic and racial equality. These are all values that R90 Lighting stands behind and so when our friends at Elliott Bay Productions asked us to illuminate the SEIU 775 conference at the Spokane Convention Center, we leapt at the opportunity! Corporate lighting Swiss army knife, Rachid Schultz wore many hats this time around, which is nothing unusual as he prefers a hands on approach to ensure everything meets his rigid standards. Rachid was the project manager, lighting designer, and lighting programmer, overseeing the project every step of the way. Executing Rachid’s design was his long-running master electrician Levi Plumb, who once again demonstrated why he is one of the region’s best in his craft. Rounding out the team was Maryalice Weed, who acted as systems tech and ensured the rig functioned meticulously. The design itself called for a diverse range of fixtures from our extensive inventory: All of which were programmed on and controlled by Rachid on a grandMA3 Light using Obsidian EN12 sACN Nodes. Production rigging was provided with exactitude by Precision Productions Inc. Audio Services were provided by Point Source Audio. Video and cameras were provided by DC Productions. These folks know their stuff and we can’t recommend them enough. Fabulous group of people to work with, We’d like to once again thank Elliott Bay Productions for having us out on this! We think it turned out stellar! Check out some of the shots taken of the event below!
The Juan De Fuca Festival – 2024
A staple of Port Angeles’ Memorial Day weekend festivities, The Juan De Fuca Festival came alive this year with a vibrant celebration of arts, music, not to mention the delicious food offerings. Committed to the development & promotion of the Arts for the cultural, economic & educational benefit of Washington’s North Olympic Peninsula, this year’s festival offered a true taste of the what the beautiful Pacific Northwest is all about. From soul-stirring musical performances, captivating theatre and dance, delicious food, and masterful works of art, attendees were treated to a diverse array of artistic disciplines. JFFA offers Port Angeles, Sequim, and the entire north Olympic Peninsula of Washington a myriad of performances, events, and educational programs for all ages of ARTS lovers. This marks the fourth straight year that R90 Lighting has been asked to take part in the celebrations and we were happy to provide lighting support for the main stage at this important PNW staple! The rig consisted of a conservative, yet potent mixture of: The rig was expertly designed, programmed, and operated on a grandMA2 Light by Lighting Designer and full-time Pacific Northwest enthusiast, Rachid Schultz. His Olympic Peninsula powered lighting rig was assembled by Master Electrician and dinner party socialite, Levi Plumb. Production and Scenic Design were handled by Peter Metz, who also acted as the event Photographer (and who took these great photos below)!