Strictly Pyro
Designed by Robert and Fotunato Foti. FireOne firing with 4500 cues.
As the competition-proper came to an end in seemingly no time at all, another perfect evening greeted the Australian team, appearing in Montreal for their fifth time. A large audience was present to witness the mastery of the skies by the antipodean pyrotechnicians who had brought a vast arsenal of their own-brand products with them.
The display began very strongly, with great sequences of fans of mines across ramp 3 and barrages of large shells above. Synchronization was flawless throughout the display and the sequencing used, particularly in the Moulin Rouge segments was superb and “snappy”. The quality of the shells used was also very good, the colours were very vivid, particularly the blues and bright “sea blue” used. As to be expected, strobe effects were superlative, being a signature feature of chief formulist Sam (Salvatore) Foti. We had strobes in many forms and colours – the waterfall strobes were dazzling and I really enjoyed the blue shells with contrasting coloured strobe pistils, as well as the large colour-tipped kamuros with gold strobe pistils. Foti’s “ghost shells” were also very well done.
Many parts of the display were very powerful, the large hard-breaking shells giving several mini-finale feelings throughout the display. There were some nautical effects used – the carpet of nautical fountains was the most extensive I’ve ever seen – the lake being completely covered, even on the audience side of ramp 5. Unfortunately, there were no nautical shells used though. I looked carefully for the koala shells that had been mentioned in the interview but I was not sure I had spotted them – I did see, though, several colourful birds. There were also quite a few different kinds of crackle effects used – some the more common pale gold ones but there were also bright white crackles used – both in 180 degree mines and in shells – these had a different auditory effect compared to the more usual crackle.
One outstanding section had flight after flight of silver whistling girandolas that rose straight up into the air, to great cheers from the audience. A total of 160 of these were used and were very well received by the audience. Low-level effects on ramps 3 and 5 were very good, with beautiful star mine comets with really vivid colours in the stars. Some “laser comets” were also used, but as these were on ramp 3, they were not quite as exciting as what we’d seen used by Royal/FSC on ramp 5. Despite there being no special structures, the firing area was used well in all dimensions, though there were some small intermittent problems on ramp 3 with a position or two disappearing and reappearing. I also noticed that sometimes only two out of three positions firing 6″ shells on ramp 1 were firing, giving an asymmetrical appearance from time to time. We also had some peonies firing during a falling leaves segment and vice versa – probably two cues switched on one module.
The finale was excellent, starting with an all-crackling theme, leaving me to wonder if it would be just crackle but it expanded into more than that with massive volleys of salutes and bright silver shells, bringing the display to a conclusion to very loud cheers from the packed audience! Afterwards, in the salon des artificiers, the Foti team received a very enthusiastic reception!
All in all, an excellent display that is a certain Jupiter winner. The quality of the colours was very high and is a tribute to Sam Foti’s formulas, particularly the strobes and crackle. I enjoyed the range of music used in the soundtrack and believe this is the best display I’ve seen from Team Foti in Montreal. There was some repetition of effects during the display and some of the one-shots / mines had timings that were slightly off from others on the same cues, leading to a slightly less than clean look. The complexity of the display was just a notch below Royal/FSC so I believe that, now we’ve seen all the competitors, Foti should receive the silver Jupiter.