Grey skies gave the illusion that weather conditions were not so great, but it was actually pretty warm (26C) and very humid, giving the evening a definite summer-like feel. Despite the warm and humid conditions, there were no threats of torrential rains to dampen enthusiasm amongst the large audience for the second appearance of the team from Calgary – only the second company from outside of Quebec to have competed in Montreal. Brad Dezotell told me that as long as there would be some wind, everything would be OK as he was worried about smoke accumulation from the over one hundred cakes massed together on the firing ramps.
Brad had promised there would be no narration during the display but I was initially worried as the countdown from ten reached zero and ramp 2 lit up with bright flares – these are usually the backdrop to narrative segments. My fears were unfounded as the display came to life, gently at first, perfectly matching the music and, after only just over a minute, the first magnificent 12″ shells from Yung Feng were filling the sky! I exclaimed the first of many WOWs of the evening.
Before even five minutes were up, we were already witnessing enormous nautical shells filling the lake with stars. As the venerable Fred Bastien later pointed out, this contradicted my remark from Western’s display that the use of ramp 5 and its floating pontoons precludes the use of large nautical shells. FSC ably demonstrated that with proper design and product testing, it’s possible to include nautical shells as large as 6″ calibre and still use ramp 5. I was happy to be proved wrong as I exclaimed yet another WOW.
After only ten minutes we had reached a dramatic climax in the display that was worthy of being called a finale, causing me to wonder just what the real finale would be like. Yet FSC managed to play with the rhythm and pace of the display so adeptly that they could go from the most tranquil moments to sky-filling intensity in very short periods of time. I was impressed how fluidly the fireworks and soundtrack were married together – the sound editing being seamless in some places but with pauses in others to allow the fireworks at the end of one segment to complete their effect before the next thematic episode ensued.
Speaking of the theme, Heroes, it could be argued that this was not necessarily reflected in the fireworks and that one would have to know which pieces of music were supposed to represent which set of people FSC were paying tribute to. But this did not matter at all, the soundtrack was simply superb and the fireworks followed it exactly.
I was impressed how FSC had followed a similar design excercise to that used by last year’s Gold Jupiter winner, Yanick Roy of Royal Pyrotechnie, in that there was really no repetition of effects throughout the display. True, one particular effect would be used several times in a particular sequence, but it would not reappear later in the display. Thus there was a great variety used, both of types of fireworks and colours used. This style is difficult to realize without very detailed product knowledge and kudos to FSC for pulling this off. The quality of the fireworks used was very high and Brad did achieve his aim of using every possible space in the sky that he was allowed to use, giving the display a very broad and full feeling.
A couple of small negatives as no display is perfect. I found that sometimes the design wasn’t as “clean” as it could have been with a missing comet angle here or a cake firing at the wrong time there or a sequence of spider shells on the right in a kamuro tableaux for example. Another problem was that some of the larger calibre comets (and FSC used very large calibre comets indeed) broke apart, spoiling the symmetry – but we can hardly blame the team for this. Another negative (and this is something I always state) is that I find charcoal comet effects can be too dim for the firing site at La Ronde. The only time I noticed this in FSC’s display was in the sequence of nautical charcoal comet shells – their dimness (exaggerated by their flash burst) spoiled the effect in my opinion. The only other negative was that I found the “leaping comets” portion of The Pink Panther sequence was rather similar to the Bummel Petrus sequence in Yanick’s display last year. That must be countered, however, by saying that any effect which has been done in the past is never new again when it is next used and I suffer from having seen too many shows in Montreal so it is harder and harder to surprise me as time goes on.
Big shows sometimes suffer from having chaotic finales in their attempt to provide an even bigger ending. I was very impressed to see that FSC did not fall into this trap; granted, the finale was huge, but it was refreshingly well structure with extremely well coordinated levels in the display and appropriate colour changes. It was big, long and extremely well controlled, building to a massive climax to the delight of the audience.
Speaking of the audience, their appreciation of this display was evident throughout with cheers and whistles at all the moments of intensity and surprise. When the finale was over, they jumped to their feat to give FSC a well deserved standing ovation. I must admit that I joined them and finally felt that the competition had given us a display which was a stand-out winner. As I stated later to Brad, if FSC don’t get a call inviting them to the winner’s ceremony, then I won’t be attending the competition anymore.
