Hello everyone,

Although off-competition, please feel free to post your reviews/comments of this opening display here.

Edit: Paul, could you please insert the word "reviews" at the end of topic heading? Thanks!

Cheers,

Trav.

The tradition continues and the Montreal International Fireworks Competition began its 35th season tonight, with a good and entertaining show entitled “Nostalgia 1985” designed by Hands Fireworks, a Canadian company which competed in 1985. Thirty-four years later, Hands Fireworks was back at La Ronde for this off-competition opening. Two lines of thunderstorms had moved through the Montreal area by late afternoon and early evening. A rainbow appeared around 8:20pm, the sky became clearer, and during the show, the low wind was just strong enough the clear the atmosphere from the smoke. However, I wonder to what extent the rain had caused damage to the setup : it is obvious that some components didn’t came into life (leading to some asymmetries, especially with patterns of cakes on “Walking on Sunshine”, and a carpet of multicolour nautical flares which covered only the right side of the lake on Gloria Estefan’s “Conga”), while other presumably erupted at the wrong times.

The soundtrack included 23 segments. I found the musics very energetic and entertaining. I kicked the ground with my foot several times! However, the quality of transitions between segments was unequal, sometimes a bit rough. One could argue that French-language songs weren’t well-represented and, indeed, I believe the show (especially as it was designed by a Canadian team) could have featured a couple more. Furthermore, the night before the display, Mylène posted on her blog that Duran Duran’s “A View to a Kill,” which had not appeared on the list released by La Ronde, was also part of the show. I thought about a voluntary omission and I hypothesized that Bryan Adams’ “Heaven,” the ultimate listed song, would be a faux finale. It wasn’t the case and the missing song played early, around the 19th position in the line-up.

The display began promptly at 10pm, once the lights of the Grande Roue and the Jacques-Cartier bridge extinguished in synchronization with the countdown, with mines and shells reproducing national flags to echo the countries mentioned at the beginning of “Dancing in the street.” Interestingly, the first was the Italian flag – the competition very first show, on May 31, 1985, was fired by an Italian team (Panzera). Fortunately, the rain didn’t resume neither on “Here Comes the Rain Again”, nor “Purple Rain”, where stars of the same colour obviously appeared, from shells and mines. Well-synchronized chases of yellow mines (or dense yellow comets), and massive flame effects were very appropriate on the words “dance into the fire” from Duran Duran’s song. Despite all these ideas, I found the pyromusical design a bit weak, the rhythm being too constant. The extravaganza was loud and heavy. I would have enjoyed some quiet segments, for instance at the very beginning of the ultimate part, where the serene music of Bryan Adams didn’t fit with massive nautical shells... Changes of pace are important in a pyromusical show to create some textures and to play more effectively with the viewers’ emotions.

The show featured a good diversity of mines and shells. On Madonna’s song, shells of double rings, which changed of colours and burst following circular sequences, appeared. I also appreciated the diversity of nautical products. The finale was powerful enough, a great enjoyment after so many months of privation! The Hands Fireworks team members didn’t appear in the windows of the control room, which were not enlighted as they normally are.

***

Before the show, Michel Lacroix hosted the opening ceremony between 9:20pm and 9:35pm. La Ronde chairwoman Janine Durette and competition director Martyne Gagnon addressed the audience. The latter looked extremely enthusiast and could not refrain to applause a couple of times during her own speech. A radio representative from The Beat 92.5FM then appeared on the large concrete base in the centre of the grandstands for some animation, inviting people to briefly dance with him, until 9:55pm, as it is usually the case before the closing show.

This was also the first show with “general admission” instead of assigned seats. I discuss about this issue on another thread :
http://montreal-fireworks.com/forum/index.php?action=vthread&forum=4&t opic=3319

Fred

http://montreal-fireworks.com/ReportBlog/?p=1485

I discovered afterwards that the fireball effects were produced by firing two gallons of gasoline per fireball - no wonder we could feel the heat!

Paul.