Wow, great opening with happy birthday. If your all wondering why I am posting this so early is cause I'm on my iPhone so I'm like writing this early! Harry Potter was played at the end, even though last year Germany took it as well. Staying Alive by the Bee Gee's was great with quite a buildup. And the last song which was for the finale was amazingly choreagraphed. The amount of shells was incredible. Never saw something that powerful from Panzera from the '00's. The size of shells also was breathtaking. I'm speechless! Way to go Panzera! Paul, I hope you have the video!

Pat

Hi guys,

I must say that I had a terrific evening, especially since the fireworks were quite enjoyable. The ideal weather also made for the perfect settings to support the fireworks, and simply made the experience just so fantastic to bring in both the 25th anniversary and my 20th year attending this competition - happy 20th, Trav!

The display was generally good with some nicely transitioning segments in both pace and power as well as some excellent effects to assist - I particularly loved the various farfalles, shells of hearts, shells of double colored rings and clover leafs when all making appearances in between the display. A lot of the mines were also excellent and dazzling, as were the screaming serpents when they were seen. I think there was additionally a brief period where nautical shells were present. Aside from that, I was also overjoyed when seeing the series of cakes bursting for some time just a few moments before the finale was set to begin. I was similarly taken up by the amount of salutes that were used at many points of the display, especially when appearing during the piece involving the shells of single or double rings. Finally, the shell of shells and multibreaks were particularly interesting to note, mainly because they were so diverse in the way they exploded, some with a fairly long sequence of explosions - they really caught many off guard.

The choice of music was fairly enjoyable and more and less suited the overall framework of the display. I really loved how the display opened up with the fast sequence of salutes being fired towards the middle. Additional favorites would be directed to the loud chest-thumping white shells towards high level. The display also was well balanced from top to bottom and left to right, and had a nice variety of colors. Most of the display was fairly enjoyable, but I felt that many parts of the show could have been just a touch more active in their entirety. The finale itself was quite powerful, but I thought it could have had a little more in the way of longevity with some more colors mixed in towards the climax. I sort of like the way the faux finale brought us into the real one, however, keeping everyone tense.

All that said, an enjoyable display we witnessed tonight from Panzera after the long 10-month waiting period. It was a real pleasure to be back on Notre-Dame and De Lorimier and to see the area again after such a long time. The only thing that frustrated me is to learn that a small office building may be under construction over the parking lot where we usually park on De Lorimier during this coming Fall and ready for 2010. I've been parking there for practically 20 years!!!

Other than that, the weather conditions followed closely to what I had mentioned, with clearing skies on the Western horizon, temperatures at or even slightly above the 20 C mark and winds coming out mostly from the Southwest. The only real surprise to me were the occasional small gusts (22 km/h) of wind that were present just before and during the display. They have just since diminished to the expected range. Speaking of weather, we may actually see a little of Mother Nature's fireworks later on today into Monday morning.

What a great evening this was, and I hope you all had as much fun as I did tonight. I recorded the last 5 minutes of the display, so I'll be posting it on YouTube shortly. Btw, I'm sure everyone loved the shells and salutes that were fired between 9:17 and 9:30 - the second series of shells were a real surprise!

The first competitor, Spain, is scheduled to present next week. My expectations are high as Spanish displays, particularly those from Igual, are a part of my all-time favorites.

EDIT: Saluteness, Germany was not a part of the competition last year.

Trav.

My mistake Trav, two years ago. Igual did give a good performance a while back. I was impressed. The last song sounded like something from Gladiator. I might be wrong but maybe it was (someone could point me out on that like Trav did just above.) I wonder what we'll be expecting for our first competitor Should we all keep our fingers crossed? Not only for a good show but good weather! I am really wondering what exactly was being fired in the finale, cause there was just too much. My mom said she saw it like lightning from Cartierville (northish of Montreal close to Laval). I can see almost any firework from my house providing it is larger than 6". I still wonder what we can expect from Spain. Like the quebecois say "Attachez vos tuqes!"

Pat

A great display from Team Panzera, as Pat said, took us back to the glory days of the late 1990s. Only problem was that I missed the first minute because I couldn't find the right button to press on my camera to get it to record ... I'd forgotten I need reading glasses now that I've been reporting on this competition for 17 seaons

Was good to see the grandstands at La Ronde completely full! Just felt strange to see a "closing show" at the start! The good part was not having that feeling of sadness that another year was over!

The video is in the process of being converted/uploaded - should be there in about an hour. I used a wide-angle converter - hope this gives a better overall impression of the display.

Paul.

[edit: 8:20am - the video has now finished uploading]

Hi again, first of all thanks for sharing the display so fast !

I have problems to download the video. I only can download 65% of the video. I tried with firefox and explorer, ant the result is exactly the same ( I can see only 19 minutes and some seconds). I don't know if the problem is from my PC or not.

Hope to see the compelte video !

Hi Paul

Thank's for posting the videos - It's great to be able to follow the shows from over here!

Have fun the next many saturdays

Greetings,
Lars

I have problems to download the video. I only can download 65% of the video. Try right-clicking and then do a "save-as" to get the file onto your computer and watch it after it has all downloaded. Let me know if there's any problems then.


Lars: great to hear from you - hopefully the videos will give some sense of being there - hope to see you compete in Montreal one day!

Paul.

It was a pretty good and enjoyable display. I liked more the second half of show. It was also a normal and neutral Panzera display with plently of small feux finales. It definitely felt weird watching a closing show as the first display, especially the all-too-familiar Panzera finale, which was very intense, but not powerful enough, let's say!

Thumbs up to La Ronde for keeping the bigger rides open until 12:30am! It was an awesome fun night!

Nous avons été choyés par Dame Nature pour cette première soirée pyrotechnique de la saison: la pluie est demeurée au sud du Québec, le ciel s'est dégagé en soirée et les vents soufflaient juste assez pour dissiper la fumée, dans leur direction dominante, vers la section Or et les gradins VIP où bien des gens ont dû s'inquiéter de voir des résidus oranges provenant de larges kamuros descendre vers eux... Comme le soulignait Paul, les gradins - sans être complets, il y avait plusieurs sièges libres - étaient très achalandés. Cela fait changement des estrades de plus en plus dégarnies qui caractérisaient les débuts de saison, voilà quelques années. Cela est sans doute un impact de la disponibilité de billets à meilleur marché (5$ pour les détenteurs de passeport saison, 25$ avec admission sur le site à partir de 17h). Mais il faut aussi dire que parallèlement à ces réductions tarifaires, l'espace disponible pour regarder les feux sans avoir de sièges a été réduit comme une peau de chagrin, en particulier avec le grand réaménagement de l'an dernier, et encore cette année par l'installation de nouvelles loges VIP et divers points de vente qui obstruent la vue (entre le carrousel et le Jardin des étoiles, face au Bateau pirate, sans compter la cabane à jardin demeurée près de l'arcade, qui bloque judicieusement le dernier grand espace disponible à proximité du lac). Ces altérations physiques ont vraisemblablement un caractère permanent, mais les bas tarifs, eux, le seront-ils? La numérotation des diverses sections de la Place de l'animation a été revue mais elle demeure aussi peu visible pour les visiteurs qui cherchaient longuement leurs sièges, occasionnant de la congestion dans les allées et escaliers au cours des minutes qui précédaient le spectacle. Les responsables de la signalisation devront refaire leurs devoirs.

Trois ministres du gouvernement du Québec (dont la ministre de l'Environnement, Line Beauchamp, conjointe de Pierre Bibeau, vice-président et responsable des commandites chez Loto-Québec) étaient présents, mais le maire de Montréal, Gérald Tremblay, brillait toujours par son absence, malgré que nous soyons en année électorale. Sa principale rivale, Louise Harel, sera-t-elle présente si elle accède à la mairie? Députée d'Hochelaga-Maisonneuve pendant plus de 25 ans, soulignera-t-elle ainsi l'importance de ce festival populaire dont bénéficient les citoyens de cette circonscription qui n'ont qu'à marcher quelques rues pour regarder le spectacle de la rue Notre-Dame? Ou se joindra-t-elle au lobby environnemental qui dénonce que les vents balaient trop souvent les polluants vers ce quartier populaire y voyant, pourquoi pas, un nouveau complot capitaliste contre les classes ouvrières? Guy Laliberté était également de la partie. Le président de La Ronde, Marc Tremblay, a souligné avec insistance sa présence, usant pour ce faire d'un vocabulaire qui laissait bien paraître la familiarité entre les deux hommes. Une autre raison de croire que la collaboration avec le Cirque du Soleil cette année puisse être le présage à d'autres choses?

Le montage de ce feu était assez sobre et ne présentait pas de dispositif particulier: des pièces réparties entre les 4 principales rampes de lancement, quelques fontaines hissées sur des mâts le long du lac, sans autres pièces montées, ni cinquième rampe au centre du lac. Le spectacle lui-même était à l'avenant: Panzera a une fois de plus rempli la commande qui lui avait été faite en présentant un spectacle pyromusical de qualité. Sans plus. Il semble que mon appréciation soit plus mitigée que les opinions exprimées depuis hier soir dans ce forum!

À la base, il faut rappeler que les pièces constituant la bande sonore de ce spectacle ont, selon ma compréhension des choses, été choisies par le public dans le cadre d'un concours organisé par Rythme FM cet hiver. Les gens votaient pour des pièces musicales réparties entre trois catégories: chansons québécoises, musique classique et bande sonore de films. La structure du spectacle respectait parfaitement cette division. C'est donc dire que la liste des pièces musicales a été déterminée tardivement, laissant relativement peu de temps à la conception. De plus, je crois que cela a donné comme résultat une trame sonore hétéroclite qui minait la cohérence et l'unité d'ensemble du spectacle. Par ailleurs, la relation entre le spectacle pyrotechnique et la musique était assez inégale. Certains segments étaient très bien harmonisés (les chandelles de serpents sifflants sur l'air ondulé qui marque l'ouverture de la "Danse du feu" de Falla, par exemple), mais d'autres laissaient à désirer, en particulier pendant le bloc de chansons québécoises.

Pour ma part, la qualité du matériel pyrotechnique est probablement le point fort de ce spectacle. Si l'arsenal n'était pas aussi diversifié que dans certains autres spectacles réalisés à La Ronde (les chandelles, produit de prédilection de la maison Panzera, étaient nombreuses; leur usage trop intense donne l'impression de remplir facilement un tableau pendant plusieurs secondes), il nous offrait en revanche des effets sophistiqués. Les bombes cylindriques, les étoiles changeant de couleurs, d'autres dont la phase de luminosité se concluait par diverses éclosions secondaires... étaient nombreuses. Des fontaines nautiques ont été lancées sur le lac, suscitant l'admiration des spectateurs. And yes, Trav, they were some nautical shells as well!

J'ai douté - et je doute encore un peu - que nous ayons vu le spectacle complet. En effet, pendant de longues périodes, rien n'éclatait en provenance de la rampe 3. Heureusement, les cinq gâteaux de bombettes qui ont amorcé l'avant-dernier tableau (Staying alive) sont entrés en action au bon moment, marquant le pas vers une première finale bienvenue après un long hiver.

Dans l'ensemble, c'était un bon spectacle. Mais on n'y retrouvait pas l'originalité, ni le raffinement qu'on attend des meilleurs artificiers. Les transitions entre les tableaux n'étaient guères soignées. À plusieurs occasions, des pièces éclataient de façon erratique entre deux tableaux et il est arrivé que l'espace devienne subitement noir au beau milieu d'autres segments. Aucune séquence spectaculaire ou originale pour marquer l'imaginaire et s'inscrire dans la mémoire des fidèles qui verront neuf autres spectacles au cours des prochaines semaines.

Panzera, firme qui a tiré le premier feu et remporté un Jupiter d'argent en 1985, puis qui est impliquée dans la direction artistique de l'événement depuis 1987, présentait ainsi son 26e spectacle à La Ronde depuis 1985 (le 27e en incluant le feu d'ouverture de la saison 2000, produit conjointement par Panzera et PPA, l'ancienne firme d'Erik Tucker). Sa contribution au développement du Concours international d'art pyrotechnique de Montréal est incontestable. Mais 25 ans plus tard, l'à-propos de cette collaboration entre Montréal et la firme de Turin ne devrait-elle pas être réexaminée? Après le spectacle, au Salon des artificiers, le concepteur musical Pierre Walder annonçait à mots couverts sa retraite en soulignant que l'âge l'incitait peut-être à passer le flambeau à la jeunesse. Monsieur Walder est un homme très distingué et ses paroles témoignaient d'une certaine sagesse qui pourrait faire réfléchir bien des gens et poser une question qui a presque les allures d'un tabou: le moment n'est-il pas venu de confier la production des spectacles hors-concours à d'autres firmes qui se réjouiraient d'obtenir une telle vitrine pour expérimenter et offrir aux spectateurs des productions audacieuses sans trop se soucier des préférences un brin conservatrices du jury? Personnellement, je ne me souviens guère du dernier feu de Panzera que j'aurais classé parmi mes trois premiers choix s'ils avaient été en compétition.

Cette réflexion porte sur un aspect néanmoins mineur de la compétition, dont la survie paraît maintenant moins menacée qu'il y a quelques années. À moins que la situation financière de Six Flags ne vienne compromettre l'événement en mettant en danger la survie même de La Ronde. Alors que s'ouvrait la 25e édition du concours pyrotechnique hier soir, Six Flags se plaçait quelques heures plus tôt sous la protection de la loi contre les faillites. Enkil, I left the park around midnight and I realized that some rides were running. That is a great shift with the darker seasons, a couple of years ago, when rides didn't reopen following the firework displays.

Fred

P.S.: En consultant l'historique des feux, je constate que les trois premiers feux de cette année sont présentés par les mêmes trois firmes qui avaient lancé la compétition en 1985, dans le même ordre: Panzera, Igual et Pains Fireworks!

Fred,

Thank you very much for providing this informative review, and thanks additionally for confirming the presence of the nautical shells at that one point when I had observed them!

And guys, here is the video clip that I took of the last 5 and a half minutes of the show, taken from Notre-Dame street:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_Z5DV6PtiM

Apologies for all the shaking - no place to adequately setup a tripod in a crowd like that.

Trav.

It is their way of improving customer satisfaction after all the complaints they received last year, especially for closing the rides so early. It's more of an effort I'd say.

And yeah, at Fort Edmonton, they've almost managed to ruin the perfect view for those who don't sit at the grandstands, but it is still watchable. So thumbs down for that. I said to myself that maybe it's an attempt to push people to buy tickets for the seats? lol They even put small fences around the area, and now people can't watch the fireworks out front without having all the additional small buildings and SAQ flags blocking parts of the view. I'll check it again next week.

That was a great opening by panzera... One can't comment much on their choreography cause just like what has been said, it's exactly just like any other panzera show.. Even their other international shows, they do the same multilevel shells plus cakes or candles on the ground then a big finale ending with 8 shots roman candle salute mines hehe But somewhere in the show there were a few stepper mines, that was a nice addition to the show

Hopefully the first competing show' s gonna be much better than this! This past few years, igual has been making shows that has very short musical pieces mixed together... I think for them to be seen as a serious contender atleast, they shouldn't stick to this style just my 2 cents..

I'm glad that panzera didn't disappoint anyone with their finale in their opening show

Vander

Hey just wondering. Paul might be able to answer me on this. Are we allowed to watch the show near the Ferris Wheel or at least the Catapult or the dragon? Cause I'm thinking of watching Igual's there.

Pat

Hey just wondering. Paul might be able to answer me on this. Are we allowed to watch the show near the Ferris Wheel or at least the Catapult or the dragon? Cause I'm thinking of watching Igual's there.

No, that area is in the danger zone - you'd be far too close - plus you'd be edge-on to the display so it would look really bad anyway.

Paul.

Awesome display, i liked that opening display!

here is some of my pic i took from the bridge:

Very nice pictures reloadable. Love the picture number 6 ! I can see the Olympic Stadium and La Ronde perfectly illumianted ! Is it a flash effect or what?

To the admin: I still have the same problem with the download, I can download only 19 minutes... I will try with anoter computer. I guess the problem is mine, not yours. However, could you tell how many Megabites is the video? Is it 194 MB or more?

Thank you.

What a pleasure it is to be back at La Ronde and back posting here in the forum.

I feel that my review for Panzera's display to open the 2009 competition can be brief, not only because I share very similar feelings about the display with Fred, who has already posted a well-informed and detailed review, but because it was an out of competition display that proved to be outside the caliber of what we have come to know as the International des Feux.

The display felt like it was made from a cookie-cutter, or was something out an Ikea box. A readymade that requires minimal effort on the part of the designer. The contest, open to the public, to select which songs they wanted to hear is evidence of this. The musical selections felt largely interchangeable as a result. The francophone section was quite bad while the classical and film score sections were moderately well done. However, for me, the display's greatest flaw was that it had absolutely no thematic direction. It was meant to be a crowd pleaser and I believe Panzera succeeded in this respect. The grandstands were packed; based on Trav's video, De Lormier and Notre Dame seemed very busy. The common viewer who witnessed this display probably went home very happy.

To touch on some of the positives now. The product used was quite impressive. Some of the colours, notably the blue during the "Le Grand Bleu" sequence was spectacular. Also, as Fred mentioned, those Panzera candles never cease to amaze. The finale, for what it is worth, was pretty good too.

But most of all, the thing to be happiest about is that the display, whether enjoyed partially or thoroughly, ought to be the weakest of the 10. Here's to a great next couple of months!

Tyler

Finally found out that the last song from Panzera was the theme from Pirates Of The Carribean. Usually I know Italian firms often use italian music to go along with their finales. Cause italian music always ends powerfully. But I remember from 2006, Italy put Madonna. Panzera in 2003 put Bethoven and in 2004 was music from my mom's country of Ireland. Very nice photos Reloadable Shell. Rovira is right, number 6 caught my eye! Nice photo of the explosions too, you can see the setup on Ramp 1 in some of them.

Pat

Hey guys,

It's so nice to be back into the feel of fireworks competition and to share each others feelings about the different displays. By the way, I must start by congratulating Paul with this new design for the website.....the dark blue background with the yellow writing along with shells exploding makes me feel as if I were on the bridge, watching fireworks, which is just GREAT!!! That is one great improvement to the site, which makes it very close to perfection!

This show by Panzera was simply amazing and is sure a wonderful way to start an international firework competition. They had nothing to gain since they are off competition but still, they displayed an intense show and a provocative finale which made me scream my lungs out (and gladly, my voice could not cover the sound of those numerous salutes exploding during the finale, making this guy very, very, very HAPPY)!

Way to go Panzera and thank you for bringing such delight to all of us!

.....and thanks to all of you in this forum, for sharing your thoughts on the subject!

Pierre