Iron
Designed by Christopher Sousa; PyroDigital firing with ~3200 cues; some Finale3D visualization
Yet another Thursday with weather warnings, together with the highest temperature of the season, with the thermometer still registering 29C at show time. Prior to that, lightning could be seen in the far distance in the west as we anxiously watched the radar screens hoping the forecast storms would stay away.
Sure enough, as the countdown completed, the weather cooperated and the entire display was shot without incident and with favourable wind conditions moving the smoke to the right of the audience. This allowed the crowd, the largest of the season so far, to enjoy the performance. Despite the recent political tensions, the audience politely followed the normal protocol during the introduction of the team, though seemingly more people remained seated than is typical.
I had been unsure about an all-heavy metal theme, but my fears were assuaged and there was sufficient variety and pace. Christopher Sousa told me during the interview that his company had been involved in the final tour of Ozzy Osbourne, who sadly passed away a couple of days before the show and so this working knowledge was put to use in the laser segments, the best of the year so far. However, the team had not taken advantage of the allowed overlap between the fireworks and lasers at the start and end of each segment.
The quality of the fireworks themselves was really excellent, showing a wide diversity of products with interesting effects and very vivid colours. The weather conditions certainly helped enhance this, especially during the segment set to the music Rainbow in the Dark (by Dio), where we had excellent rainbow coloured effects both across ramp 3 and in shells above. We were treated to all kinds of beautiful shells, including the photoflash effect from Portuguese manufacture Groupo Luso, a nod to the heritage of the team.
Ramp 3 effects were not used as much as in other displays, but we did see some of the signature effects from Pyro Spectaculars such as the “Sousa Marching Comets”. These had been mentioned in their previous participation and is an effect that the company is well known for. Unfortunately, I found there were weaknesses in the overall design as there were quite a few times where there was an imbalance in the levels of the display, with portions where we just had volleys of shells. Some of these also appeared to have too much dark sky between them – maybe this was an artifact of the visualizations used, where the effect time on the computer screen doesn’t correspond with actual field conditions? Another surprise was the placement of large numbers of cakes on ramp 2. This has the negative effect of making them appear too small, plus the control-room (ramp 4) blocks the view somewhat in the centre, further diminishing the effect. I asked Christopher about this after the display and he said it was because he was fearful the cakes could cause fires on the wooden structure of ramp 3. Whilst we have had damage in the past, it’s a shame that this abundance of caution diminished the effectiveness of these cakes.
I was also somewhat surprised to see no real use of the lake whatsoever. One of the special features of the Montreal site is the lake and the ability to use it as another canvas for fireworks. Perhaps this reluctance is due to rules in California, where the company is based, that do not allow nautical products anymore.
I enjoyed the soundtrack more than I expected, as I’m not a Heavy Metal connoisseur, though I found some of the edits between tracks were a bit odd, with perhaps too much reliance on fade-out. This lead to some confusion between segments as it wasn’t clear if the fireworks being shot were part of the previous segment or the start of the next.
The use of plenty of large calibre shells was certainly a boon for people watching from outside of La Ronde, but, ironically, prevented the audience in the grandstand from appreciating the 300mm shells used. It seemed that many of the 200mm shells ascended to a very great height before they burst and thus they obscured the 300mm shells. For the on-site audience, I found the reliance on aerial effects rather than a more balanced mix of all altitudes was a bit of a negative. That, combined with a fairly simplistic set of firing patterns without any surprises ended up creating a somewhat anticlimatic feeling. The finale was good, but not as powerful nor as long as I would have expected given the sound track. However, I had made the same comment in 2007 for Pyro Spectacular’s second participation in Montreal.
Overall, this was an enjoyable display but I think the design was a bit simpler than we’ve become accustomed to in recent years and was more reminiscent of a barge show, rather than one that features a very close-up audience.
