Drive-in rave poses as religious service in Seattle

Seattle-based concert lighting company R90 hosted a recent drive-in rave by classifying the event as a religious service, avoiding violation of lockdown laws in the state of Washington.

The Covert Bat Drive Thru Rave was the brainchild of R90 owner Joe Cole, who organised the event with the help of friend and attorney Neil Juneja of Gleam Law, lighting designer Erik Mahowald (Bending Lite Productions) and lighting programmer Christian Jackson (R90), making use of guidelines permitting drive-in spiritual services.

In coordination with city, county and state officials, the team pitched the rave as having religious affiliation through its offering of the ‘gift’ of music, with no legal reasons arising to prevent them from holding the event.

In coordination with city, county and state officials, the team pitched the rave as having religious affiliation through its offering of the ‘gift’ of music

The religious-service-cum-rave took place in the car park of R90’s shop in Seattle, which has enough room to hold 21 socially distanced vehicles.

Local DJ talent including Darrius, Pezzner, Subset and Powermitten performed at the event, which also included an experimental acoustic set from singer-songwriter Glan Cannon.

With a warehouse full of lighting gear, the team of production specialists built the venue as a 3D visualisation model, complete with three lighting towers, 15 Robe MegaPointes and 27 LEDBeams.

Guests had to remain in their cars, with no limit to the number of people in each vehicle provided they were from the same household.

In keeping with religious service customs, audience members could make ‘donations’.

The R90 team is working with local promoters to increase the scale of future events and source larger venues.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.