Hello everyone,

Although this is off-competition, I thought that it would be appropriate to create this thread, just in case anyone wanted to share their comments/reviews concerning it.

Cheers,

Trav.

Perfect weather conditions and a large attendance were the backdrop of this very good opening show designed by award-winning Quebec company Royal Pyrotechnie. It is hard not to compare that performance with the previous ones from the same company and designer. Nonetheless, a such comparative analysis is interesting to highlight some differences between off- and on-competition shows (more on this below).

This opening show, a tribute to ABBA, was a departure from previous years. Such tributes typified the closing displays as part of the “Feux des étoiles” series. These closing events have sometimes benefited of some media buzz and were extremely well-attended. I hypothesize that organizers have decided to apply the same concept to the opening show with hopes to create a buzz which (a) draws people on the opening night and (b) has a lead-in effect to the subsequent displays. The first part of this test is certainly a success.

Royal Pyrotechnie has always carefully designed its soundtracks, and this one was not an exception. Transitions between the 18 segments were fluid. While Royal Pyrotechnie didn’t select the theme, it had the unique chance to make choices among many well-known and beloved songs. It also found ways to surprise the audience, especially with the very different versions of Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! at the beginning and the mid-point of the show, the second version having a surprising a jerky rhythm. That repertoire was much more effective than the one chosen twice by the Royal 22nd Regiment, a couple of years ago.

The pyromusical design and the synchronization were very good. The arsenal included some special shaped-shells evoking a cat (a face with whiskers), symbol of fortune, on the song Take a Chance on Me, long-duration cakes of stars (including an angled one on Ring Ring which last about 30 seconds), rare water-based shells (i.e., shells which are launched on the water, and which rise and burst after a couple of seconds of floating) as well as nautical meteor-headed comets. Small gerbs could not lit up closer to the audience, as they were along the front of the Silver section.

The organizers have proudly promoted the record of Royal Pyrotechnie, which won the Gold Jupiter in 2003, 2009 and (with collaboration of Fireworks Spectaculars Canada) 2014. So it is hard not to compare this off-competition display with previous ones made by Royal Pyrotechnie. I would qualify this display “very good” by the competition standards, but I can’t say that it was as creative, diverse, and sophisticated as previous ones. Some effects were repetitive, especially the gerbs and fountains right in front of the audience, which was an original idea for sure, but they appeared in, at least, four music segments, which is a bit too much for the exact same effect. The technical design was also more basic (no fifth ramp, the only setup pieces were the letters ABBA made of lances which ignitated at the start of the show) than in previous appearances of Royal Pyrotechnie.

To get a better idea of these differences, I tweeted a series of three comparative sets of photos. Each set includes 3 pictures from the setup in 2009, 2014, and 2018. The series systematically compares ramps 2, 3, 4 and 5. It exhibits the many structures used in previous shows which allowed for more diverse patterns, as well as the larger quantity of pyrotechnic effects used in these shows. I think that differences can not be more clear :

Ramp 2: https://twitter.com/pyro_fred/status/1015841953114738688
Ramps 3 and 5: https://twitter.com/pyro_fred/status/1015843520387670016
Ramp 4: https://twitter.com/pyro_fred/status/1015844031325265920

There are many explanations possible for such differences. First, we may hypothesize that a designer and its company have more incentives to invest time, creativity, and energy, as well as decreasing its profit margin in a signficant way, for a competitive show than an off-competition one. That is perfectly understandable. I personally have much more confidence in this hypothesis than the reported statement that an opening show should not “go too “high” (...) to not outshine the competitors-proper”, as written by Paul in his interview report (available here. This is one reason why I believe that La Ronde, as well as the audience, benefit more of competitive displays. Second, Mylène wrote on her blog here that this opening show had a smaller budget than the competitive performance. Her blog entry doesn’t specify neither the proportion of this budget difference, but it should certainly be a source of concerns. Tickets are not cheaper. (While that line of reasoning also applies to other cultural events with different costs but similar prices.)

Overall, it was a very good show and, “thank you for the music,” it was very entertaining.

***

As I exited the Jean-Drapeau metro station, I realized that construction work began in 2017 on Ste. Hélène Island is not over, and travelers still walk between multiple fences. The bus took about 10 minutes to reach La Ronde because traffic jam, which was so important after the display that returning buses were directed towards Papineau metro station. Around 8:30pm, the line for the fireworks tickets booth located near the Arcade, extended out of the fenced queue, up to the entrance of the Arcade. For a 29th season, Michel Lacroix is still the official voice of the fireworks. The Jacques-Cartier bridge joins, once again, the Ferris Wheel during the countdown. You may want to remain seated immediately after the fireworks performance to enjoy the serene Vangelis’ Monastery of La Rabida which is the outro musics of the competition since countless years, but also to watch the dazzling and glittering patterns of light over the iconic structure of the bridge.

Fred
@pyro_fred

Salut Fred

Super bon ton analyse de la performance de Royal . Je suis tout à fait d'accord avec celle-ci.
Je suis allé à la Ronde justement parce que j'aime beaucoup de que fait Royal et aussi j'ai été motivé par le choix de rendre Hommage à la musique du groupe ABBA.
J'ai bien vu que Royal fait les choses bien différemment pour un feu en compétition mais j'ai apprécié les voir embellir et colorer le ciel de la Ronde.
Maintenant..place à la compétition.

Roger

For those who did not get to see the display, here is my video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-YAEzzq5pU

Finally my review is up: http://montreal-fireworks.com/ReportBlog/?p=1474

Paul.