Hi guys,

Please post your reviews of the Australian display here. The winds are maintaining the forecasted direction (SSW), so the smoke from the display should be moving to the right of the audience at La Ronde, as mentioned previously.

Enjoy the weather and display tonight.

Trav.

Hey folks,

What a display! So far, 2 Jupiter safe displays in a row . Would give my 2 cents but I'm too tired tonight, need to let my thoughts simmer lol.

Dan

One word to describe this display: Incredible.

I found this to be a very original performance with a good thematic representation, with plenty of rich and dazzling colors (given the nature of the theme, I suppose), a huge arsenal of effects, and wow were there ever some mighty shells, including one of which that I felt needed to be classified as perhaps a 50" (around 19-20 minutes into the display that bursted around mid level)! One effect that attracted many, including myself, were those dramatic flames that appeared at the opening piece! I was also happy to, once again, see the variety of those tail ring shells, which the firm had used as part of their show in 2008. Many of the nautical effects were magnificent, and the firing angles were very interesting along the right, left and center, often making the display appear quite wide at low to mid levels.

The display, in particular, had spectacular choreography (a little reminiscent of Sweden 2010 at certain parts), as there were often tightly synchronized segments, especially at low level along the center. The only thing, though, is that while I enjoyed most of the soundtrack, many of them were very similar in delivery, so this somewhat eliminated some of the transitions at a few points.

The finale was outstanding, and I think, for me, that it was a little better than Italy's due to its endurance and intensity. Really, many points of this display were very exciting, particularly because most of the sky, at all levels, was frequently filled with activity.

I will have more later today for this awesome performance by team Australia. I agree with Dan in that the show is certainly a contender for a Jupiter. Other than that, prepare yourselves for a hot and humid day today - the mercury could be attaining 34 C, with humidity levels at, or just slightly above, 40 C.

I hope that you all had a fantastic evening, and I am delighted that the weather played out accordingly for this wonderful display.

Trav.

Here is my video of the final few minutes of Australia's display (taken from Notre-Dame/De Lorimier):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6o8y3hQax4&feature=channel_video_title

Also, was there any particular reason as to why there were some additional fireworks following the finale? I saw the ferris wheel light up, but there were still some fireworks being fired.

Trav.

Just watched the video of this show... What a FLAWLESS show! It seems that Howards and sons has achieved the perfect balance of all the components of a pyromusical! It was intense, creative, original, and emotional all at the same time

Very early on the show the tight synchronization despite the live music could be noticed right away. Fortunately the tight synchronization was present throughout the whole show, both their shells and one shots were very well synchronized. All the different patterns that they formed were very interesting and were all very original. One of my favorite sequences were the circular running sequences around ramp 4. That's gotta be my favorite segment from the whole show I also liked the segment where groups of 5 of salutes ran from left to right in ramp 3. The flow of their music has been one of the best in the past years and it really presented their theme well. Through their music choices, howard and sons were able to bring their audience where they wanted them to be

The effects they used were obviously of very high quality. Most of their shells were perfectly rounded and the colors were very good. It's too bad that one HUGE triple petal shell broke really really low and another HUGE shell flowerpotted. Other than that the product quality is pretty much top notch. I specially like the double kaleidoscope shells from yung feng. I was hoping that they would have used bigger nautical shells instead of the nautical cakes that they used. But even without the presence of huge nautical shells i think that this show would be unbeatable or atleast it would take a LOT to beat the show.

Overall the show was really one of the best i've seen from the competition together with pyrotecnico's rock loves and ricasa's 2005 show The show was certainly non stop and it didn't bore me at any point. Although there were a few moments where in there were nothing firing, it seemed that howards and sons wanted to highlight on the live band at these points of the show? Even with these pauses i think that Howards and Sons has done a really spectacular show! I think that my grading would show that their show is close to perfection, it's really bothering how two of their huge shells malfunctioned. Hopefully this show gives Australia their first gold jupiter in the competition!

Here's my grading for Pirotecnia Morsani:
Effects: 10/10
Synchronization: 10/10
Music: 10/10
Technical Design: 9/10
Pyrotechnical/pyromusical Design: 10/10
Overall: 49/50 (98%)

Ranking:
1. Australia - Howards and Sons
2. Italy - Pirotecnia Morsani
3. Czech Republic - Flash Barrandov
4. China - Panda Fireworks
5. England - Pyro 2000

Vander

What a competition 2011 is shaping up to be!! Another sure-fire Jupiter winner. Very original show. The UltraFire FireOne firing system made a big difference to the synchronization - several people noted that it was really very very tight indeed, especially during the comet chase sequences on ramps 4 and 3. And the audience just loved the live drums+didgeridoo. Really a fabulous evening all round. So now we have 2 Gold Jupiter contenders but still three displays still to fire ... it's going to be an interesting two weeks, to say the least!

Paul.

From one performance to the next, it seems to me that Howard & Sons becomes better. The debute display in 2005 had a poor narrative and was repetitive. The second display was much more better, with 26 floating platforms, a large range of pyrotechnic effects, including some rare products (i.e.: the burst of small clusters as some shells rose). The one produced this year was definitely more original and its pyromusical design was more «raffiné» than in 2008.

For those who only watched the video and were not on site, I would like to provide some information about the setup, which was massive and complex to say the least. A small floating stage was located on the lake, behind the large stage used for the official ceremony. Two Australian performers, including the one who played the didgeridoo, stood on this stage during all the show. The pyrotechnic material was dispatched across the four firing ramps, without a fifth one, which was a striking departure from the 2008 concept aforementioned. The fourth ramp was especially important, with 19 firing positions on it. Moreover, ten other firing positions were vertically located on the edge of the front half of the fourth ramp, ready to shoot fireworks horizontally rather than vertically. Other sets of small cannons were also installed vertically along the third ramp. Also on the third ramp, there were seven setup pieces to create some flowers. Finally, huge barrels were located on the second ramp, a sign that huge flame effects were coming!

The show began with these very bright flames, as the performers played the music of the first part of the display. They played for three segments of the show (opening, middle and closing), complemented with a pre-recorded soundtrack between them. The show didn’t suffer of any synchronization problem due to the live performance, whose sound was more powerful than the one from the recorded soundtrack. The performer who blew into the didgeridoo made large movements with his arms, sometimes following the fireworks patterns, and shortly spoke to the audience two or three times. I would not listen such music at home to put a smile in my face, but I appreciated to hear this very original and different music for a display. I was more excited by the Italian soundtrack, which was more familiar to me, but to be fair, I would say that the Australian music deserves higher mark… and maybe the special music award. To my knowledge, it’s only the second time that live performers play musics in the competition history (more than 240 displays; the first case was the 40-musician orchestra with the Weco’s show in 2004, playing music partly written for the Montreal show, rewarded with the Platinum Jupiter).

On the pyrotechnic side, I was delighted with the wide range of effects and firing patterns. Whereas the Italian display was a bit repetitive and featured some basic patterns during the first 12 or 13 minutes, the Australian one was more diverse and complex through the 30-minute show : the flame effects of the opening, some lines made of short duration gerbs along the third ramp (which reminded the unforgettable Luso’s Mission Impossible sequence in 2008), other sequences of gorgeous gerbs of colours different than the usual white (blue, purple, green, yellow), semi-circular sequences of mines around the fourth ramp, go-getters effects from various devices (mines, shells), a carpet of nautical fountains which then erupted like mines (unfortunately the one and only nautical product), very fast sequences of comets launched in an inverted-V pattern thus creating three cones or pyramids, etc. Many large shells were exhibited, and a lot of products made more than a single effect. We really had to watch every second of the show to not miss anything. Some people may found the didgeridoo music very monotonous, but I believe that many of these sequences were synchronized with more subtle variations in the music.

There was some technical problems during the display, including a 10-second black-out at one time. Also, some shells burst without rising in the sky. But these problems didn’t detract viewers’ attention from the display. I also noted that some cakes of multicolour stars came into life once the finale was over, but the Pirotecnia Morsani had the same weakness with 4 or 5 salutes after the end of the soundtrack. A spectacular finale brought this excellent display to an end.

For me, it is not easy to rank the last two displays. This year, I don’t carefully assess and mark each display. So my (rough) personal ranking :

1. Australia
2. Italy
3. China
4. Czech Republic
5. England

Fred

but the Pirotecnia Morsani had the same weakness with 4 or 5 salutes after the end of the soundtrack. This wasn't a weakness, it was deliberate and is the traditional way to signal the end of a display. The Spanish do the same thing (though I've not seen them do that in Montreal).

Paul.

Impressive show offered by the Australian Team.

The show started with “Firestreamers” that lightened the lake beautifully, which lead us to a very rhythmical musical section that obviously kept us intrigued and interested in the very good display of fireworks. Question; are these “Firestreamers” display costing a lot?

With “real” musical performers, the live musical moments were pleasant at first but became a bit repetitive. Although being very creative and offering novel sounds to us (people of the Western hemisphere), the musical sections with the Didgeridoo had a harder time to segue with the other following musical selection. Despite that, they really offered a show with high intensity levels and compelled us to their great, vibrant energy, which was, at some time, reflected in the fireworks. Good job!

From my perspective, their weaknesses lies in their good but not efficient choice of musical selection. Their beautiful display was not well supported to create a magical pyromusical show. Either the music was overshadowing the pyrotechnical part or it was the display that was not supported by the music.

I have to say that for the last 10 minutes of the show, the visual poetry was exquisite; very creative displays and offering sheer beauty in colors and shapes. Wow! An outstanding performance by the Australians Team, and this will surely earn them a well-deserved podium.

Awesome night at La Ronde!

Cheers,

Sebastian

salut

Cette excellente firme de l'Australie n'a jamais gagné le Jupiter d'or lors de ses participations précédentes mais ils sont venus bien près d'atteindre leur but à quelques reprises.
Ce soir ils ont présenté un spectacle de haut niveau à tous les points de vue; qualité des pièces, luminosité, utilisation de toutes les possibilités du sites de facon originale, une synchronisation vraiment très efficace à tous les niveaux, bon choix musical original..une excellente mise en scène très dynamique et imaginative avec un intensité bien réglée ..
Toutefois si j'ai vraiment aimé ce spectacle il ne m'a pas rejoint émotivement hormis l'excitation générée les segments plus intenses en 2 ième partie et un bouquet finale que j'ai adoré.
J'avais bien écrit dans mon commentaire sur le feu Chinois qu'il fallait attendre de voir les autres firmes en compétition.
Là on sent que la lutte pour les Jupiters se corse de feux en feu . On pourrait encore être surpris avec les pays encore en liste à savoir les USA, La France avec Lacroix -Ruggieri,et enfin BEM du Canada...
Donc je suis un peu ambivalent dans mon classement . C'est vraiment serré entre les Australiens et les Italiens . Alors je laisse mon coeur décider.

1- Italie
2- Australie
3-Chine
4- Angleterre
5- République Tchèque.

A la prochaine

Roger

The highly anticipated Australian display was graced with, ideally, beautiful Summer weather, where temperatures hovered around 28 C before the display to 27 C during it, and the humidity was high. Some scattered cloud clusters of cirrus and cumulus were also present in the evening skies, coupled with light SSW to SW winds.

Like Italy, along with nice weather came yet another well executed fireworks performance. As expressed by others previously, I, too, find that Howard and Sons seem to continuously improve with every appearance that they make in Montreal. Really, the display was an absolute success under many respects, and I was most appreciative of the diverse set of effects employed from one segment to another - the effects were often used interchangeably to correspond with certain components of each soundtrack.

Coupled with a very unique selection of music, I found the display to be technically compelling in its overall design, frequently having the audience tightly engaged to many segments and accompanied soundtrack. The live performance also added a very different (and perhaps crucial) dimension to the display in terms of originality and creativity, which is an attribute that allows this particular show to stand out immensely by comparison to the more traditionally fired pyromusicals. I found that the live performance itself flowed incredibly well during those points where it had been involved between the pre-recorded songs, and the overall feel of the music, in its entirety, was clearly different and deviated from what we are commonly accustomed to, giving the show a very original appearance. The variations in pace were beautifully set in motion by the fireworks from segment to segment, especially during the didgeridoo pieces - the low level effects (comets, gerbs, strobes and the nautics), in particular, were extremely tight and were carefully selected for representation. Other details include good symmetry and balance from high to low level and from the left to right - I personally found that low to mid level activity had been nicely augmented by high level shells, especially, at times, those massive 12” shells. The show’s opening, for example, got off to an exquisite start, with dazzling, bright flames that lit along low level, which were later supported by some angled mines of red stars to some large shells directly above.

The choice of effects similarly magnified the variations in tempo from one segment to the other, such as the horsetails, salutes, variations of tail ring shells (which were used in the 2008 display), 12” shells (and a variety of patterned shells) at high level, and the gerbs, comets, cakes and strobes at low level - the cakes were quite mesmerizing, sometimes making a gorgeous curtain of color (a little reminiscent to Canada 2007’s approach to introduce the concluding piece), and the shells of go-getters appropriately amplified certain musical notes.

Choreography was likely the most signature component of this display, as the fireworks were virtually defining each soundtrack with distinction, creatively enhancing synchronization and often neatly revealing the intricacies of both rhythm and pace of each soundtrack. Among the sequences, I found that the angled shots of gerbs that spread along the lake (much like a small school of fish skipping gently along a clear water surface) were memorable, and the various firing positions of the cakes and comets also made for some particularly interesting synchronization, and a good left-right extent, making the display sometimes appear quite wide in nature.

My criticisms are few and largely minor. While the thematic connection was best illustrated through the vivid and delicate color mixtures and transitions that were brought forward amongst effects, there were some points where the relationship was a little more of an enigma through certain musical selections - it was sometimes hard, then, to establish a defined musical connection with the selected theme of “Colors of Kakadu”. The soundtrack, while enjoyable throughout, the didgeridoo sections became redundant over time, even though each piece where the didgeridoo had been incorporated was uniquely portrayed. For myself, this did take something away from the diversity and complexity of the display. As a result, I felt that, by comparison, Italy’s conceptual design was more effective and better organized, mostly in terms of representation, transitions, and emotional delivery, in addition to being more easily understood through its well navigated storyline. Lastly, it was obvious that there were a few technical problems that had occurred during the display, which was indicative when two or three brief periods of silence took place, as well as a number of shells bursting before reaching the desired height.

All that being said, my criticisms do not take much away from such an awe-inspiring and, like Italy, but, clearly, in a different manner, finely crafted display, especially with its originality, high quality product, creativity and, at times, stunning choreography - a fabulous performance also concluding with a stunning finale, which, for me, is the number one conclusion so far this year (enough to make my list of most honorable finales!). Furthermore, the fact that the live performance worked so well really collects extra points. For me, it is certainly a battle between Italy and Australia for the gold at this point in time, although I am leaning a touch more towards Australia because of originality and complexity.

Let’s see what the Americans have prepared for us for tomorrow evening.

Thank you also, Fred, for the good information concerning the nature of the setup, as well as for the live performance!

Trav.

My report is here: http://montreal-fireworks.com/ReportBlog/?p=444

At this point, there are two contenders for the Gold Jupiter: Morsani and Howard & Sons. Both excellent displays. Morsani excited me more, but Howard and Sons was exceptionally creative and audacious. I'm having a hard time deciding which one should be Gold at this point. Kudos to both teams for bringing the 2011 competition to life with their stunning displays.

Paul.