L'International des Feux Loto-Québec 2007
Montréal International Fireworks Competition Report

Spain Pure Jazz June 20^th, 2007

Pirotecnia Igual - designed by Xavier Galan Garcia, Albert Rovira and Isidre Panella. FireOne firing, ScriptMaker, approximately 2105 cues together with 198 Hercules manual cues

MONTREAL, June 20 /CNW Telbec/ - This evening at 10 p.m., La Ronde kicks off Montreal's summer festivities with the opening performance of the 2007 International des Feux Loto-Québec presented by TELUS, a pyromusical salute to jazz by the celebrated Spanish fireworks company Pirotecnia Igual.

Pirotecnia Igual's pyromusical spectacular will salute the glorious history of jazz. Under the direction of Isidre Panella, backed by Xavier Galan and Albert Rovira, the family company has created a show especially for Montrealers because "the greatest number of fans of this type of music are found in Montreal," said Xavier Galan, one of the show's three designers. Exclusively for its Montreal show, Pirotecnia Igual, which uses no fewer than 17 different colours, will dazzle its audience with a special combination of colours, including orange, lemon yellow, blue, magenta, purple, pink and white.

Among the pieces that are the firm's specialties, candles, fountains and nautical pieces will be put to special use, along with heart-shaped figures that will add a spiritual touch at a particular moment in the soundtrack. A dynamic rhythm will be ensured by the rapid-pace effects created by the various pieces and a double finale will enthral spectators with a sequence of slow piano notes concluding with a discordant note accompanied by a multitude of air maroons for an exceptional surprise effect.

Founded over a century ago and headed by Mario and Patxi Igual, Pirotecnia Igual stages more than 600 fireworks shows per year. It is also a leading pyrotechnics manufacturer serving many major companies. With customers worldwide, the firm is Europe's leading pyrotechnics materials exporter. It has won many honours, including six Jupiters in Montreal (two gold), and received the contract for all the pyrotechnics performances at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.

A perfect evening for the opening display in the 2007 competition. Despite forecasts of rain or thundershows just two days ago, the weather was clear, dry and the heat and humidity of the past few days had completely abated. The evening started out somewhat breezy, but by showtime at 10:00pm, the conditions were superb. A somewhat smaller than usual audience, probably due to it being a Wednesday, was treated to an excellent display by the Barcelona team. With 48 pieces of music listed in the official release, this was a challenge for your humble reporter. A challenge made more difficult by the fact the supplied list didn't quite correspond to the order used. Due to this, I will just indicate the segments where I knew what the music was and indicate the transitions elsewhere. The official marketing slogan this year is something along the lines of "Come and see what you're missing". In other words, being on-site at La Ronde is a whole different experience from watching from anywhere else. This is particularly true for a company like Igual, who make fantastic nautical products - obviously difficult to see from many of the vantage points outside of La Ronde.

Part 1 The display opened a couple of seconds short of the countdown with some large mines. The New Orleans style music was up-tempo and was well choreographed with mines of bombettes and shells of stars and starfish comets above. Mines of serpents were added into the mix and then a move to large comet shells as the music transitioned

Part 2 Slower music with a good swing was augmented by flights of double ascenion girondolas - always a crowd pleaser. Several flights took off, some a bit reluctantly and then a line of glittering fountains in threes opened along ramp 3. Above this, shells of serpents danced along with the music as a final flight of girandolas rose into the air as the music transitioned to

Part 3 Shells of spiral patterns burst above to a Louis Armstrong piece as the fountains continued below. More spiral shells and then large shells of half and half in two bright pastel colours with crossed mine bursts of strobes firing below. Above these, shells of stars ending in crackle bursts and then more spiral shells. The strobe mine bursts continued below as more spiral shells and shells of crackle fired above. The music transitioned to

Part 4 Rather more upbeat, shells with pistils fired at a high level and then shells of strobes below as more strobe mine bursts fired. As the mines continued, shells of multi colour stars above them and candles of serpents below and a flight of nautic flares landed in the lake and turned to strobes as the serpent candles continued. The music transitioned

Part 5 The lemon yellow nautic strobes continued with candles of serpents and farfalle shells above. Then candles of salute-terminated serpents and more shells of crackle bursts emphasizing the drums in the music. This theme continued and was augmented by shells of stars and starfish comets and then barrage after barrage of huge nautical shells, to cheers from the audience as the music transitioned

Part 6 The nautic shells continued with shells of stars and comets above eventually becoming just shells of stars and comets as the music transitioned

Part 7 The star and comet shells continued as a line of 6 pointed fountains opened on ramp 3. Above these, the star and comet shells continued with some titanium salutes from time to time on the drum beats and then shells of crossette stars and crossette comets. The final drum roll and trumpet blast brought out a huge shell of comets as large fountains launched into the air and landed in the lake as the music transitioned

Part 8 Much slower music now as the nautical fountains danced on the water as shells of strobes burst above, The fountains then all suddenly launched silver comets out of the lake which landed back in the water and continued to burn as fountains while go-getter shells fired above. Lines of fountains illuminated on top of ramp 4 as shells of go-getters and strobes burst above. This serene theme continued and then the music transitioned

Part 9 Walking bass notes on the piano of Count Basie were perfectly synchronized to meteor comets on ramp 3 moving left to right repeatedly. Mines were then added in and sequences of comets left and right fired in fans and then angled comet fronts left, right and up in perfect synchronization and the two sets of fans left and right as the music transitioned

Part 10 Purple mines with white strobes and double farfalle shells above continued with the more Louis Armstrong music as shells of blue crossettes fired above with mines of blue and crackle below. This theme continued with shells of rings of star crossettes and gold glitter crossed candles below. Then angled blue star shots below with white crossettes and then a return to the double farfalle shells with star and strobe mines below and then back to the crossette theme. The music then transitioned

Part 11 as large meteor comets fired from the centre, huge pistel shells above and more farfalles. This theme continued with angled glitter comet candles below, the large meteor comets and more pistel shells above. Titanium salutes then came into the mix on drum beats as well as willow comet candles and more farfalles and pistel shells above. Then half and half shells at a lower level as the pace of the music increased barrages of colour shells and crossed cluster comet candles, barrages of salutes and large pistel shells above. The pistel shells were replaced by large silver comet shells and then barrages of meteor-headed crossette comet shells and crossed candles of salute terminated comets below - this theme continuing and ending with large electric crackling crossette comet shells and a large front of comet mines bringing a pause to the display after about seven and a half minutes to cheers from the audience.

Part 12 to the music Stormy Weather by Billie Holiday. Set pieces along ramp three lit up with brilliant white strobing lances. Nautical stronbes were then fired into the lake to dazzling effect as the slow music continued. Titanium salutes fired on drum beats as the music transitioned

Part 13 Farfalle shells and mines below fired as the music became more up-tempo. Left and right firing star shots were followed by synchronized mines with sequences of comet shells above. Left and right and up in stars and mines with shells above in perfect synchronization and then larger shells above and a front of meteor comets as the music transitioned

Part 14 Shells of go-getters and then bright mines from ramp 4 with farfalles in the middle and then nautic star shells burst in the lake as the music transitioned

Part 15 the nautic comet shells continued to cheers from the audience and became more intense an then the music transitioned

Part 16 to the music Sweet Georgia Brown by Ella Fitzgerald. Double farfalle shells fired time and again, some with gold flashing pistils, some with blue. This theme continued and then shells of wiggly comets as the music transitioned to

Part 17 to the music In The Mood by Glen Miller. Comet mines fired on ramp 3 as shells of comets to stars fired above. Then as the music got going with the main theme, a line of wheels spun up on ramp three and three sets of pastel star "Z" cakes danced with the music. These continued as the wheels kept firing and then the music transitioned

Part 18 A barrage of large comet shells was followed by shells of rings of stars and colour star shots below in contrasting colours. These continued as colour changing heart shaped shells burst above as the music transitioned

Part 19 Bright mines of meteor comets and candles of salute terminated whistling serpents were augmented by large comet shells and bombettes of comets below as the music transitioned

Part 20 Large shells of blue stars and silver starfish comets with shells of crackle left and right of these and candles of comet clusters below and then shells of go-getters as the music transitioned

Part 21 Barrages of bright shells with stars and crackle were followed by shells of thick wiggly comets and then mines and bombettes as the music appeared to transition

Part 22 Shells of rings of crossette stars with more bombettes below. This theme continued and was followed by rings of glitter comets and bright silver mines of crossettes in the centre and then shells of brilliant pastel meteor comets as the music transitioned

Part 23 Gorgeous shells of waterfall-style kamuro comets ending in purple fired to the more serene music and were then augmented by go-getters going well with the Bossa Nova rhythm as the music transitioned to

Part 24 to the music Round Midnight by Miles Davis. More of the gorgeous kamuro waterfall shells ending in purple. This theme continued and was augmented by high wiggling serpent shells as the music transitioned

Part 25 Farfalles with gold strobing pistils were followed by shells of blue stars and silver starfish comets. This alternating sequence continued as the colours of the shells changed with barrages of crossette comets shells and shells of comets below on the trumpet blasts as well as volleys of titanium salutes followed by colour changing comet shells above bringing a second pause to the display to applause from the audience.

Part 26 to the music Happy Birthday to You by Marilyn Monroe. Appropriate for the 40th anniversary of La Ronde, simple comet mines and shells on the final chords gave rise to cheers from the crowd as the music transitioned

Part 27 Strobe shells fired with the piano music, serenly filling the sky and then falling star shells turning to strobes drifted gently trough the air. Comet shots on the piano notes and mines on chords and titanium salutes on note rolls as the music transitioned to

Part 28 More gentle piano music as shells of strobing crackling willow comets and then shells of strobes with crossed mines of strobes below. This theme continued with all strobes in shells and mines and then moved to silver spider comet shells with fans of thick silver comets below. This continued and then star shots sequenced on notes with mines where appropriate, the segment ending with a tight volley of large salutes perfectly in sync with the final chord to cheers from the audience and another natural pause.

Part 29 A more up-tempo rhythmic piece with candles of salute terminated comets, meteor comets and shells of go-getters above. Above these, large shells of stars and more go-getters. These were then augmented by shells of crossing stars and then mines of silver crossette comets below and a barrage of gold meteor comet shells above these as the music transitioned to

Part 30 Synchronized star shots with shells of stars above formed a theme. Then shells of willow comets to stars and a return to the star shots below. Above these, silver comets and serpent mine shots below and a barrage of comet to star shells as the music transitioned to

Part 31 Shells of go-getters were followed by waterfall comets in pale gold and more go-getters. Then more shells of the waterfalls turning to blue and shells of firefly willow comets followed by a volley of electric crossettes. These were followed by shells of go-getters, waterfalls and shells of willow to blue with fans of willow candles below and then more waterfalls as the music transitioned to

Part 32 Falling leaves shells with shells of strobes below went well with the Spanish guitar music. The strobe shells continued and then shells of gold crossettes and a volley of titanium salutes as the music transitioned to

Part 33 Crossing-star shells and more volleys of titanium salutes formed a repeating theme together with crackling gold comet shells as a front of mines of salutes and thick silver falling comet shells transitioned the music to

Part 34 Angled gold glitter mine shots were followed by flights of whistling comets and shells of wiggling silver comets above. This theme repeated several times as the music transitioned to

Part 35 sequenced gold comet shots and then the same in meteor comets and then more from left and right on ramp 5 were followed by waterfall comet shells as the music transitioned to

Part 36 to the music Yesterday sung by Sarah Vaughan. The waterfall shells ending in purple continued as the music transitioned to

Part 37 to the music Yesterday by Count Basie. Synchronized mine shots were augmented by glitter comet shells above and then star mine and comet shots below. This theme continued and was followed by a barrage of willow to blue shells as the music transitioned to

Part 37 to the music Eleanor Rigby by Count Basie. Synchronized star and comet shots moving left right and up continued and formed the main theme with willows shells on the trumpet blasts. The willow shells continued as the music transitioned into

Part 38 to the music Hey Jude by Count Basie. The willow shells continued and then turned into willow-to-silver shells filling the sky as the music transitioned to

Part 39 to the music A Hard Day's Night by Quincy Jones. Meteor comet shots left in right in silver and yellow were followed by fronts of wiggling comet mines. This continued and then synchronized shots of star mines with comets and then barrage after barrage of mines of salutes followed by a return to the comet and star mine shots. These were then augmented by shells of stars and starfish comets at a high level and comet shells below as the music transitioned to

Part 40 to the music Norwegian Wood by Buddy Rich. Bright purple mines were followed by fans of gold comets and the same in shells above turning to strobes. This theme continued and repeated and was followed by weeping willow shells above and gold firefly comets below and large shells of comets turning to serpents above and shells with pistils. These were followed by barrages of willow shells and then alternating star mines below as the willow shells became willow-to-silver shells, filling the sky to cheers from the crowd and giving a rare pause.

Part 41 Barrages of titanium salutes exactly on the drum rolls were followed by meteor comet candles and shells of rings of comets above and triple intersecting ring shells. This theme continued with barrages of comet shells and more triple intersecting ring shells and then shells of rings of crossettes as meteor comet candles fired below as the music then transitioned to

Part 42 to the music Birdland by Weather Report. Mines of serpents with comet shells above and then whistling candles with star shells on trumpet blasts formed the main theme. Then the music transitioned to

Part 43 to the music Birdland by Manhattan Transfer. Large pistil shells and barrages of large star shells and salute terminated serpent candles below as the music again transitioned to

Part 44 to the music Indian Lady by Don Ellis. Barrages of shells of pistils with salute candles below started the faux finale. The pace increased with massive barrages of shells of stars with comet shells above filling the sky to cheers from the crowd. Then an incredible arrangement of very rhythmic salutes firing on the drums of the music in anstonshing fashion. A pause, then barrages of whistling comets and salutes, more barrages of larges salutes and a final huge barrage of salutes, to cheers from the crowd.

This was a very enjoyable display from the Spanish team. Very nice product and some amazingly well sequenced sections, but some other rather repetitive sections too. Sometimes the music segments were a bit too short (which is why I'm four pieces short of the 48 used) but parts were done extremely well. As to be expected from Igual, amazing nautical devices, but there was just something missing from the overall feel of the display. All that said, the finale was very well executed with one of the most memorable use of salutes I've seen for a few years.

Thanks to the public relations people of La Ronde for the official press release material, shown in white.