Hello everyone,

Please post your reviews of the Spanish display here. I hope that everyone is also enjoying the Summer-like weather!

Cheers,

Trav.

That was an excellent show of Pirotecnia Vincente Caballer. That was a traditional, classic way to do fireworks (a sharp contrast from other displays filled with special effects), mixed with an outstanding know-how. The result was a grandiose, engaging and sober display. Well... as sober as it can be with so many pyrotechnic devices! The third ramp was almost saturated of firing stations and the amount of products across the first ramp was also impressive.

The typically Spanish soundtrack was well-crafted, with good transitions. That was a mix of classical and contemporary, instrumental and vocal, musics. While one or two segments were known from the audience, I found the musics exotic but very evocative and engaging. While I was attentive to the intro narrative, I didn't really understand its relation with the show concept. Since some flares lit up at the same time, it was not too anti-climactic, but I would have preferred a stronger beginning. Generally speaking, the theme was not obvious, but the musics were evocative enough to highlight transitions between different emotions, from passion to more dramatic segments. In addition to these musics, the fireworks themselves contributed to the sound component of the show (crackles, whistles, detonations from mine sequences, etc.). An American pyrotechnician, who manages to attend about one show in Montreal each year, told me after the display how the fireworks sound in a different, more powerful way in Montreal due to the mix of sands and concrete which make this amphitheater. (This is another one to bring minister Robert Poéti back from his anti-La Ronde power trips...)

Synchronization and pyromusical design were perfect. The fireworks really "moved" with the musics, both components fitting perfectly together. Several note-synchronized sequences occurred through the show. With so many cues and single shots (see Paul's interview for details), it is not a surprise that a such level of precision is obtained. I was especially impressed by some very artistic sequences of angled mines on the third ramp. Moreover, there were several variations from intense to more serene segments, allowing (too) light winds to blow the smoke toward the right of the audience, as predicted by Trav.

On the technical side, Pirotecnia Caballer has kept pace during 31 minutes. There was a waterfall between ramps 2 and 3, lightening vertical poles, horizontal mines, flames, etc. The lake came into life with flares and shells during the show, while the nautical products were not as numerous as in the Italian display. A fifth ramp has been added during the evening (it was not there when I rode the Ferris Wheel around 6:30pm), but nothing erupted from these platforms (it is not clear whether they were supposed to be part of the show or not). Overall, the show was well-executed, but a short duration set of products which erupted at the wrong moment, on the left side of the firing area.

Quality of pyrotechnic pieces is definitely a strong component of that show. Richness and vividness of colours were outstanding.

To summarize, an excellent display. At this moment, it appears to be contender for a Jupiter. But four other contestants are coming.

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The management of lightening around the fireworks area seems to be very challenging. First of all, two giant spotlights from the firing area (apparently from the first ramp) remained lit in our faces at the beginning of the show. Thankfully, someone found a way to turn them off. Then, once the display was over, the Ferris Wheel seemed to resume standard operation as its lightening came into life... for roughly two minutes! La Ronde and the surrounding area are crowded on fireworks night. Is it too much energy to keep the Ferris Wheel into the celebration for the remaining of the night (and to fix broken bulbs)? Come on!

On a side note, I enjoyed a festive atmosphere when I left the park, as a crew of very enthusiast La Ronde employees formed a line on each side of the exit, doing hi-5 to the leaving customers. That Disney-style initiative was a great way to end the evening and deserves to be mentioned!

Fred

I'd certainly like to echo what Fred wrote - this was an excellent display. Here is my report: http://montreal-fireworks.com/ReportBlog/?p=883

Paul.

Pour la première fois cette année, j'ai très apprécié le spectacle. L'Espagne a clairement éclipsé ses deux prédécesseurs et obtiendront certainement un Jupiter. Le spectacle fut varié, excitant et a su garder mon attention tout au long de la demi-heure! Après la performance de l'Allemagne et de l'Italie qui m'ont laissé sur ma faim, je reprends maintenant confiance en cette trentième édition, avec cette merveilleuse prestation de l'Espagne. La seule critique négative que je puisse faire, est le manque de synchronisme à certains instants, mais ce fut largement compensé par la grande créativité, le dynamisme et une finale explosive des Espagnols (enfin, une VRAIE FINALE !!!).

J'ai très hâte à mercredi pour voir le spectacle offert par le Canada et je mise sur la finale qui devrait être "dans mes cordes", si j'en juge par la dernière performance de Fireworks Spectacular en ce 24 juillet 2010, date qui sera à tout jamais gravée dans ma mémoire comme étant une des plus belles finales dont j'ai eu le grand plaisir d'être le témoin!

Here is the link for the 2014 videos.

http://www.burchcom.com/2014/index.html


To download your own copy, right click on this link and select "save target as" ... the file is 1.3 GB

http://www.burchcom.com/2014/2014spain.mp4

My video compilation of this fabulous display can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPHxpkmdMK0&feature=youtu.be

Just listen to those echoing launch sounds (I recommend using earphones), and the noise from those shells. The Spanish display TRULY had a 90s feel to it (almost brought tears of joy to my eyes just remembering displays from the 1990s). The finale was also exciting, but it was nowhere near that of 2004's!

Trav.

Excellent show by the much anticipated Caballer team! I agree with everyone else. It was professionally designed and executed. The show only got better and better until the finale. The quality of the pieces were excellent, too. I had some mix opinions about the song selection, but overall very good.

I totally agree with Smoke. The finale was very good, but half as powerful as their 2004 finale, which is what I hoping to witness again. :P

My rankings so far:

1. Spain
2. Italy

I was able to view the German, Italian and Spanish displays from the bleachers, and I want to concur with Salutes lover. While the German and Italian displays were extremely good, they did not leave me with that dazzled "Oh Wow" feeling that the very best Montreal displays can evoke. The Spanish display did. It was stunningly beautiful and exquisitely orchestrated. The colors were incredibly rich, with some tones I don't believe I've ever encountered before, and both its high and low level parts seemed to have an exceptional brilliance and clarity (despite some low level smoke buildup). That show is going to be a hard one to beat.

For the third consecutive time, Summer-like conditions were the backdrop for a fireworks night this year. Temperatures faithfully remained at 26 C during the evening and late-evening hours in Montreal’s metropolitan area, along with partly cloudy skies (mid- to high-level clouds), building high humidity, and light winds. However, as noted by Fred, the winds were a little too light, especially to compensate for the forecasted high humidity that developed during the evening, and, as mentioned by Robert Fendrich, periods of smoke accumulation occurred at low-levels, in particular. Fortunately, the smoke was generally pushing fast enough towards the North for suitable viewing.

The renowned Vincente Caballer certainly did not disappoint with their (traditional) display, entitled “Once Upon A Time”. For a decade, I patiently waited for this Spanish team to return (I still cannot believe 10 years have elapsed), and, as such, my expectations were naturally quite high. Also, given the information that Paul kindly brought to us, this promised to be a massive display, and vividly remembering many of the details from their 2004 participation (including the unfortunate technical problems discussed), during the 20th edition, I was most eager to see how the 2014 performance would turn out. Most assuredly, we were treated with a true Spanish fiesta that featured fabulous choreographed segments and effective transitions in rhythm and pace that evoked the correct emotional atmosphere. As Enkil mentioned above, the display only became better as it progressed. Indeed, the effects became quickly diverse, and the high quality of the products was soon apparent and complemented most sections rather nicely and serenely. Many of the effects were additionally quite memorable when representing the soundtrack utilized for this display. The nautical shells, for example, although much less in number compared to what was seen with the Italian team, were stunning, and I enjoyed the series of flare arrangements that were used at low-level. Later in the display, including 23 minutes into it, we also experienced some shells that emitted a noise that resemble the sound of extreme tire friction (just at a much lower pitch) when a vehicle suddenly comes to a halt upon immediately pressing the brakes after going at a fast enough speed. The series of photoflashes were, as always, thoroughly admired, as were the double-ascension glittering girandolas, clusters of weeping willow shells, shells of crackling pistils, mines of salutes, and the variety of screaming serpents. Of all the sections, the penultimate part of the display (called “La Salinas”) exhibited the most exemplary synchronization/complexity and was, in my opinion, the most creative – the firing angles and sequences used were just so intriguing at low-level and along the lake and were a little reminiscent of parts of Italy 2013’s “Jailhouse Rock”.

In terms of structure, the large vertical depth and width of the show were often apparent, as much of the space from top to bottom and left to right was effectively used while sustaining good symmetry. Most of the songs were also creatively represented. As a result, the general design of the show was excellent and, as I mentioned before, had a definite 90s appearance to it (which nearly brought tears of joy to my eyes when remembering how displays used to be done during the course of the infamous 1990s!), largely due to the size of the display, as well as the nature of its more vigorous moments (to some extent, the launching sounds, too, as heard in the video compilation that I made). The colors, like the effects, were also very rich and diversified, and the traditional Spanish colors were sometimes used in a mixture.

My criticisms are generally minor and mostly pertain to the technical design. Whereas Italy had a more obvious thematic connection (though it was mostly sensed through the soundtrack), I could not quite establish the relevance of the Spanish display’s. As such, as much as I enjoyed most of the soundtrack, even though it was not familiar, it was difficult to comprehend how it related to the selected music. Apart from the theme, I felt that there were some somewhat monotonous firing patterns during a few sections early in the display, and I found the horsetails/falling leaves a little too common. This occasionally gave the impression of a more simplistic design. For the opening, I was, again, also left with the feeling of an anti-climax following Michel Lacroix’s countdown, where nearly a minute of narration opened the display. Finally, as mentioned above, the finale was exquisite, but it just did not have the longevity and crescendo that I was previously envisioning, especially after recalling their 2004 version. Still, the finale had a striking structural resemblance to that of 2004, which did put a smile on my face.

Overall, this was a fabulous display that was extensively enjoyed by the (large) audience and certainly is in contention for a Jupiter award this year. Despite a weak thematic premise, I thought the display was very successful in its delivery. As always, I hope to see Vincente Caballer of Spain return to our competition in the near future!

Trav.

That was a nice show! i have the first and second songs stuck in my head The highlight of the display for me where the opening segment, 2nd segment and the one before the finale with the mountain single shots. I wasn't disappointed with their show and im surprised they didnt go as robotic as scarpato I wish they used ramp4 more with the circular single shots. Products were generally much better than usual shows specially their unique colors. Saw some nice peach color and some different looking greens. Their shells were mostly nice i specially like the silver wave shells that appeared to be blinking. Their falling stars shells were nice in different variations, color changing windbells, falling tourbillions, and other things like this. I was hoping that the finale would be a bit longer but i guess the video did not do the power of the finale justice

Best Regards,
Vander

Just to show what Enkil and I were describing previously, here is a video of Vincente Caballer's finale in 2004 (footage was originally taken by Pierre):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IctS_-Xv8s

Note also that not all of the material was apparently fired during the finale/display at the time!

Trav.

Also, thank you, Paul, for correcting the spelling for this thread's heading. I remembered the name as "Vicente", but when I started seeing "Vincente" becoming more rampant, I figured that Vicente was the incorrect spelling!

Trav.

Une démonstration parfaite de la maîtrise de l'art pyrotechnique avec un grand A. De vrais professionnels qui nous ont offert un grand spectacle avec une belle progression de l'intensité dramatique. Nous avons eu aussi droit à un bouquet final dans la pure tradition espagnole.

J'ai aussi apprécié la qualité des moments plus tendre comme celui d'Aranjuez mon amour..beau passage suscitent l'émotion.
Toutefois peu d'éléments plus créatifs pour surprendre les spectateurs et j'ai été un peu agacé par la facon de gérer les transition entre chacune des pièces musicales . J'aime bien lorsque cà se fait de facon harmonieuse.

Pour ma part il est certain de Caballer sera à nouveau un sérieux candidat pour gagner un Jupiter.

Roger