Hello everyone,

Please post your comments/reviews for the Canadian display here.

Trav.

Due to an early activity scheduled on Sunday, my review of this excellent show will be posted later during the day or Monday.

Fred

Hello.

I have pretty low expectations to Orion, this being the first large pyromusical show I saw from them but I was utterly stunned by what they have shown with their display. The ground choreography is just excellent - the best so far this year. The patterns just so diverse and rarely repetitive and has unique variations of mountains and wave shapes across the ramps with great photoflash runs accompanying them. Synchronisation is great but there are some instances (specially in later part of the show) that both the aerial shells and ground level seemed to be a full second ahead of the music, then it goes back to being synched again. Fortunately the chaotic tone of most of the songs made these errors feel less distracting. The quality of shells were mostly great though some of the Chinese shells broke with missing stars - this was particularly obvious in the empire of angels segment. This was a shame since this is one of my favorite parts of the show. The large blue jellyfish shell accompanying the stepper sequence below also just seemed to be not the appropriate effect the for that song. I like their color changing ghost peonies, and stutatas. Their overall aresenal of effects are among the most diverse I've seen in recent years which meant that there was virtually no repetition of fireworks throughout the show. The soundtrack was great - it felt like ages ago when I last saw a Montreal show built with purely epic music soundtrack. My only nitpick is due to the mostly dark and chaotic tones of the musics, it felt like there were very few "serene" segments.

The finale was really great. It was long with powerful barrage of shells but I can't help to think that it could have been done better given how powerful the finale song was. At some point in the climax the barrage of shells seemed to have weakened a little bit that I felt they were already running out of shells. Also the final note of the song made the ending feel a bit anticlimactic.

Those nitpicks aside I certainly think that this show will land a place in the podium - it's outstanding enough to be even worthy of the gold jupiter. Orion's show is the best Canadian in-competition display in Montreal since 2014 - the year the FSC/Royal collaboration won gold.

Melvin

My report on the excellent display from the debutant Canadian team: http://montreal-fireworks.com/ReportBlog/?p=1741

Paul.

That was an excellent debut display by Feux d’artifice Orion, a Canadian company based in Shawinigan. Presented just three days after another excellent show, it obviously elicited comparisons with the Hungarian performance. If I was a member of the jury, I would have taken a long time to establish my score and to make my ranking! Both teams have different strengths and weaknesses, as well as different artistic and technical approaches.

According to a news report of the Mauricie regional station of Radio-Canada/CBC available here, this nearly 34-minute extravaganza was the largest fireworks show ever produced by Orion – between 5000 and 6000 pieces – and appears to be an important step in the history of the company. An overview of the setup from the ferris wheel allowed to anticipate the largest number of nautical products so far and the first flight of girandolas this year, and a narrow waterfall attached to a lifting platform. Otherwise, the technical design appeared more standard than the Hungarian show.

I will start with the theme of the show, Myths and Legends of Québec, which is key to this display, especially to assess the pyromusical design and the soundtrack. Orion has certainly put a lot of work into the development of that concept inasmuch as it recruited Québec storyteller Bryan Perro to record the narrative, which referred to 9 mythical or legendary stories. It reminds some previous displays in this competition, especially the award-winning Royal Pyrotechnie and Fireworks Spectaculars Canada’s Kutuan, Legends of Fire in 2014, or the Butterfly Lovers story illustrated in the Chinese shows in 2008 (Sunny International) and 2018 (Dancing Fireworks). However, to depict so many different stories through fireworks and a soundtrack is a bolder challenge... Many people I discussed with were surprised not to find in that selection the legend of the Chasse-Galerie (or Flying Canoe – see here for details), likely one of the most famous in Québec. I had heard about the White Lady of the Montmorency Fall (see here) and the monster of the Memphrémagog Lake (see here), but I didn’t know about any other of these stories. I was able to easily find details about the first legend of the line-up, “puppets” (i.e., aurora borealis) moving to the sound of a violin (see here), as well as the Gladiolus Lady (see here). Despite my research, I was less successful with the dogs race around a church in Charlevoix, the blue pig next to the Chicoutimi River, the werewolf in Pointe-aux-Trembles, and the Quebec area “serpent child.”

So it appears that stories were unevenly known, and I would say they were unevenly depicted in the show. The most obvious case was the White Lady of the Montmorency Fall, when the waterfall came into life above the 2nd ramp. Blue bees and stars purposefully followed the narrative about the blue pig. Smiley face shells evoked the smile of the Gladiolus Lady. Morever, it is possible that some mines and shells of tourbillons illustrated the aurora borealis on the music of Lindsay Stirling. Shells of rings, which lit up in a sequence evoking a race, were maybe selected to illustrate the race between dogs around a church on Navras from the Matrix Revolution original soundtrack, as well as some spirals (the dogs tail?). To summarize : beyond some exceptions, the illustration of these myths and legends was abstract, to say the least.

The soundtrack included 15 titles and a total of 11 narrative segments. The narrative was extremely well integrated, always with musics in the background and some fireworks as well, so we really had an uninterrupted pyrotechnic performance during almost 34 minutes, in contrast with the extended pauses in Nuvu’s show. I felt very engaged by the epic music, most coming from various movies. That being said, I am not sure to what extent the music was actually linked to the selected myths and legends. As far as I know, none of these musical pieces originate from Quebec. I wonder whether some folks music – a popular genre in recent years – might have strengthened the concept. Many people I discuss with had wondered about the link between the Hungarian music culture and Céline Dion, Bryan Adam and Marie Mai. The same could be said with many items in the Canadian show.

With pyrotechnic material installed on the five firing ramps (three platforms composed the non-permanent 5th ramp for that show) and one lifting platform, the Canadian team had arguably designed a show to make the most of the firing area. Indeed, the display was sometimes very wide, and it included many nautical products. On the music of Empire of Angels, I really enjoyed a barrage made of about 30 nautical shells, the very first nautical shells displayed this year! However, as we compare with the previous show, the Canadian technical design was not as elaborated as the Hungarian one, with its perpendicular ramps made of 30 pontoons which really added to the depth of the design.

The opening and the closing of the show were spectaculars. The first shell was launched at the midpoint of the countdown and it burst right at the beginning of the show. The introduction featured extremely well-synchronized fast sequences of fans of comets and mines across the firing ramps, shells of 3D cubes, apparently followed by some 3D variants (I am not sure whether they were cylinders or distorted cubes). Complex patterns of flashes and other products along the third ramp also characterized the closing of the show (i.e., the last two parts), including some “rotating” schemes created from the lifted platform. The last minute of the show had several beautiful shells of stars with three colour changes (from blue to yellow, to purple, to green). However, that level of complexity wasn’t constant throughout the show, many segments being based on candles and some repetitive patterns, while the range of the products was nonetheless extensive. Unfortunately, the waterfall was narrow, and the double-ascension girandolas extinguished quickly.

Overall, that was a bold artistic approach, a very engaging show for me, and an exhibition of the savoir-faire of Orion’s designers. The Canadian entrant certainly joins Nuvu as another serious contender for a Jupiter. I spent a good amount of time to think about my ranking. On one side, the theme of the Canadian show was more elaborated than in the Hungarian one and the performance was really uninterrupted. On the other side, the technical design was somewhat less elaborated and constant than in the Hungarian display, the latter being also distinctive due to the quality of its pyrotechnic products.

So, my personal ranking so far :

1. Nuvu (Hungary)
2. Feux d’artifice Orion (Canada)
3. Sirius Pyrotechnics (Mexico)

I feel the race is tight between these two contestants, but there are three more contestants to come!

Fred

Found this Drone Footage of the Canadian show entitled as "Canada Day Fireworks". The video begins from a seemingly distant vantage point then closes in at La Ronde near the end of the 28 minute footage. The uploader used classical musics to accompany the fireworks seemingly unaware that the firework show he captured from high above is a Pyromusical with actual live music.

https://youtu.be/HDd7VAcTrkE

Allo à tout le monde

Je n'attendais rien de spécial de la part de la firme ORION que je ne connaissais pas mais
j'ai été impressionné par la qualité de leur prestation à tous les points de vue.
Ils ont susciter mon intérêt dès le début et comme bien des gens je suis resté sur le bout de mon banc allant d'une surprise à l'autre . Cette équipe est venue à la Ronde avec la ferme intention de gagner. Tout n'était pas parfait mais c'était de l'art pyrotechnique avec un grand A
Je n'ai pas vu le feu de la Hongrie et de ce fait , je ne peux comparer les performances.
Bonne chance pour les Jupiters ORION.
Il reste encore de bonnes firmes à venir. Attendons comme je devais le faire en tant que juge.

Roger

The warmest conditions for a fireworks day/evening up to this point in this year’s competition made an appearance for the Canadian display. Light SW winds meant that the smoke would be largely drifting gently towards right-hand sections of the La Ronde audience, as compared to advancing to left-hand and partly central sections over the course of the previous two displays.

This was a very enjoyable display designed by the Canadian team. As with other posters above, I, too, was not certain what to expect out of arguably what appeared to be a broad theme utilized for the Canadian display. Although the theme appeared to be somewhat vague, the narration did, to some degree, help to elicit the direction the display would be heading along the journey. Indeed, conceptually, the theme seemed like one that would encourage a two-part approach, but the delivery was structurally different than what I had previously envisioned. For this reason, as the display unfolded early, I became a little concerned that the thematic connection would not be tenacious and, thus, flow well with the display. However, those doubts had quickly cleared.

To my amazement, the display unleased much passion and commanded many moments of spectacular choreography. I found myself often being enamored with the fast-paced sequences that elegantly raced along low-level, only to be cleverly supported with the mid- to higher-level pyrotechnics. The show also came with interesting firing angles that helped the display achieve a wider appearance - this while dazzling the audience with fabulous sequences of mines and comets, for example. One particularly piece that stunned was the burst of nautical shells that came to life, leaving the audience gasping! I personally loved the “flower” effect that had appeared when the narrator mentioned “Le fleur”, as well as the double-ascension girandolas. As such, the Canadian team made great use of the firing area and explored practically all dimensions to allow the appropriate blend of effects between all altitudes of the show. This was augmented by the excellent product quality, showcasing magnificent colors, symmetry and endurance. The shells of cubes and triple rings/bracelets captivated the audience, too!

I appreciated the musical selection immensely for this display, as it, above all else, truly depicted the essence of the performance. For myself, I imagined the theme, “Quebec Myths & Legends” being one that somehow provided a sense of victory and conquest, or perhaps some form of depiction of the age of exploration and discovery. Under those respects, I really felt these attributes throughout much of the show as a result of the overall choice of music, which made me recall the Greek display in 2012. Although more serenity would have been welcomed, I felt that what were more tranquil moments incorporated were reasonable enough to produce the correct emotional transitions that one would probably expect from an approach such as this. The display, thus, had good fluidity and thoroughly kept the audience entertained through its overall fast-paced and energetic nature.

Although the negative points are few, one aspect that I thought fell short of expectations was the lack of a stronger representation of the soundtrack. Consequently, I often found myself expecting more pyrotechnics to really bring out that element of passion so often defining the music that had appeared. In other cases, much like during the Hungarian show, some segments would end a little too abruptly when clearly more could have been done to illustrate the signature portions of the music, or that a better arrangement of effects could have been used to amplify the visual appeal. The waterfall effect that appeared, while interesting, did not seem to add a substantial amount of depth to that particular segment, but I would have loved to see a little more from this device at other points in the show. There were also some moments where note-tight synchronization was not achieved, although these were very sparsely observed. The finale came strong and was the best one so far this year, but it needed more consistency with respect to crescendo to create a truly mesmerizing conclusion to this awesome (nearly) 34-minute display.

Definitely a Jupiter-worthy display, indeed!

Trav.

Hi!

I haven't been able to attend many displays this year, but I'm still reading the reviews and definitely appreciating all the commentary and insight online.

To provide a different perspective, on Saturday during the Canada show, I attended my first show from the Jacques Cartier bridge. This was definitely an interesting experience.

For those that have never tried this or are unaware, the bridge is fully closed to cars from around 8:30 PM onward on fireworks night. Likewise, it was interesting to see that there was a full security checkpoint (similar to the Francos and Jazz Festival checkpoints at the Quartier des Spectacles). As well, new this year, smoking is only permitted at certain sections of the bridge.

From a view perspective, I was positioned right after the bridge structure and was perfectly perpendicular to the La Ronde flag (which I saw was not on the pole).

From an experience perspective, this felt like watching a musical theatre show on the side lines. You can still enjoy it, but you can tell that you're clearly missing something.

Likewise, streaming the music online from Rhythme FM was largely ineffective as there was a substantial time delay. It took almost a minute into the show to hear Michel Lacroix's countdown on the stream.

Therefore, as most do not own/carry portable radios anymore, this was largely just an opportunity to watch fireworks.

The show was clearly very impressive. The shells with 3 colours that would quickly change were very nice to see. As well, the use of large shells were quite impressive and definitely enjoyed by all on the bridge.

The finale was wonderful, especially with the rainbow like "rain" effect at the end. As well, the flying saucer-type fireworks and the shapes (smiley faces, cubes, etc.) were neat.

From the bridge, we can clearly see that this was a designer that understood the space extremely well and made good use of the water.

Overall, it's hard to rank this display without having seen the others. As well, as someone who has seen countless shows at La Ronde, knowing what I didn't "properly see", it's difficult to properly compare this show. That said, I definitely understand why everyone is saying that this is a strong contender for a Jupiter.

From a bridge-viewing perspective, just be aware that it is a good 15-20 minute walk from the base of the bridge to the proper viewing spots and traffic leaving the bridge area is also quite difficult after the show. However, it's definitely a nice way to see the shows for free. To highlight though, you will looking at the fireworks through the grates on outer barrier/fence of the bridge.

I'm looking forward to potentially seeing some shows from La Ronde later this season.

P.S. My friend and I both agreed that the explosions of the large shells are definitely louder on the bridge!