The opening ceremony included rousing performances by Welsh bass-baritone opera star Bryn Terfel and impresario pianist Llyr Williams, and was enjoyed by an audience of 6,500 and broadcast live on Welsh TV channel S4C, with highlights shown on BBC Wales. It was the second year that Rourke has been in the lighting hot seat. He worked closely with director Hefin Owen to a brief from independent producers Opus TV.
With this also being the 60th anniversary of the Eisteddfod, Rourke decided that the lighting production values needed upping, and this was the perfect opportunity to specify Robe moving lights.
Creative changes in the approach to lighting had to be introduced very subtly to avoid shocking the long-standing traditions of the Eisteddfod Committee. Rourke managed this year's radical departure with admirable political finesse and the aid of 10 Robe ColorSpot 1200 ATs and 14 ColorWash 1200 AT fixtures.
The purpose-built main arena roof at the Llangollen site has a mother grid in the ceiling. Also for the first time this year, a sub grid was hung below this on 12 motors, enabling the lighting crew to fly the trussing in to the floor and rig at ground level.
The Eisteddfod was spread over a week and covered a very wide array of artists and performances, so the lighting needed to be dynamic and able to cover all eventualities.
For the classical numbers, Rourke washed the 28 metre wide stage (complete with flower display) with gentle colours like pinks, purples and blues. For the poppier performances, he threw gobo projections onto the backdrop and floor creating texturing and atmosphere and bumped into bolder more saturated colours. "It was just excellent having so much variety at my fingertips" he said. He operated the show using a WholeHog II console and a Wing.
Rourke first used ColorSpot 1200 fixtures for the 2006 final of Wawffactor the Welsh edition of Pop Idol, and now specifies them on all his major projects. He also used 16 CS 1200s for the Youth Eisteddfod in Rhuthin, which was a huge success.
Rourke's decision to use Robe was also based on reliability, he says: "They have been rock solid throughout with no faults or glitches on any of them."
This year's Eisteddfod operating conditions were tough. The weather was exceptionally hot, and when the canvas covered structure was packed with people, it also became very humid. Rourke believes that the Robes dealt with the "sweltering conditions" far better than other moving - or generic - lights he's used in the past.
(Chris Henry)
