I agree with armchairfwcritic. Even with a large number of cakes and other smoky devices, a light wind should have been effective to clear the sky enough, so we could see everything. However, we experienced a total lack of wind, as testified by the following picture, taken about 10 minutes before the start of the show, of the flag at the top of L'Orbite, that is, at about 150 feets from the ground.



One more evidence of the lack of wind is that people from both sides of the firing ramps (those at La Ronde and on Notre-Dame St.) had their view blocked by the screen of smoke, so it didn't move at all! Those out of the park could have a better view of the aerial shells because they were located farther from this screen, so they could see above it.

I have been at La Ronde for all the 30-minute shows of the Montreal International Fireworks Competition since 1996. That was my 186th show. I can say that, in 20 seasons of attendance, I had seen a such scenario only once, that is, for the American Austin's display in 2002. At the time, the team has also been criticized for using smoky devices (among other things). However, I am afraid that there's nothing to do with such weather conditions.

Fred

Indeed, there were excessive amounts of thick smoke present for this display due to very weak wind speeds and very high humidity, and this was further amplified by the WSW tendencies present during mostly the latter two thirds of the show. Typically, when speeds are below 3-4 km/h, we refer to the wind as "calm". When the display reached just a little after the mid-point, the cloud of smoke resembled a small thunderstorm in development.

Another instance where I remember the winds being particularly weak was during the Swedish display of 2010. However, the situation was still quite a contrast to that of July 18th, 2015 since there was still barely enough wind speed to push smoke very gently, and also important, the humidity was comparatively low at the time.

Fred,

Unfortunately, I encountered some bad luck myself that evening as I experienced battery failure with respect to my camera. How frustrating that was upon the discovery! We were able to see a fair amount of the shells from our vantage point, but much of the show was still obscured by smoke, notably at low- to mid-levels.

Trav.

Weather evidently became an issue for this highly anticipated display. Early-day convection and cloud coverage limited more robust instability into the afternoon, but enough lift from the passing cold front and high humidity led to a few very sparse showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon hours. Skies became partly cloudy for the evening, with late-evening temperatures of 23-24 C, but winds had died down to very light to calm standards in time for the display (and throughout the late-evening). With borderline high to very high humidity, and variable wind tendencies (though mostly WSW over the course of most of the last two thirds of the display) meant that excessive accumulations and near-motionless smoke were favorable. Winds have not been overly friendly so far this season.

After the countdown, I received that sunk-in feeling within my stomach when the display did not commence right away, but apparently this was done on purpose, as noted above! It is difficult, however, to write in great detail about this display since much of the last half of it was tremendously engulfed in thick smoke, especially (and with extreme irony) by that segment, “Smoke on the Water”. As mentioned in the above posting, low battery power, sadly, prevented me from recording this display (even small portions of it). That said, we were fortunate enough to be treated with a nice view of the display, allowing us to often vividly capture the high-level shells above the plume of still-smoke.

The display actually began quite elaborately and energetically along low-level, with already a splendid demonstration of distinct color and sophisticated synchronization. From our vantage point (on Notre-Dame Street), most of the shells were plainly visible in all their glory, and we were given a chance to see the very large and interesting selection of patterned shells! Indeed, the shells were absolutely magnificent and were nicely symmetric. It was particularly wonderful to see those fantastic tail-ring shells appear shortly before the actual finale, and the crowd really roared their approval with those frightening and deafening sequences of mines of screaming serpents and cakes of salutes (the noise was absolutely fearsome) towards the end of the show. The shells of double rings, shells of salutes (my personal favorite), the defined farfalles, Saturn shells, and the shells with central hearts (during “Eye in the Sky”) were also very stunning. We also thoroughly enjoyed the multi-breaks. Low-level sequences were also very well done, and so creatively - sometimes with a sudden rush of bursting fans of dancing color! The display was especially exciting, loud and, at times, blinding bright, during the final seven minutes. Other effects were used cleverly to highlight certain aspects of soundtrack, such as those rotating wheels along low-level to emphasize the sound of a motorcycle. The mounted structure was also a great addition to the display and really added depth to the firing angles and creative synchronization. The musical selection itself was generally appropriate, well-edited, and enjoyable (my absolute favorite being “The Logical Song”). The selection also allowed for good transitions in rhythm and pace and sometimes actually produced a fair emotional tie to the display. From what I witnessed, product quality was outstanding, and synchronization was excellent and intricate.

It would be unfair to criticize the display because of excessive smoke accumulations, but a few (minor) negative aspects I would like to point out is that, as has been stated already above, I found some of the firing patterns to be a little redundant at high-level with the shell appearances (shells often appearing in sets of threes, and in a similar arrangement). Also, though a good thematic premise, for me, the theme was not always so clear from time to time, but many of the tracks (and through the pyrotechnics) really gave that feeling of being “on the road” in a mystifying manner. As mentioned previously, the display was very exciting and loud (mostly with the barrages of salutes and mines of serpents) during the final seven minutes, with several segments showing what appeared to be the finale. The finale itself was undoubtedly sky-filling and powerful, but I found it to be on the short side, lasting 31.5 seconds. Still, a good end to a very enjoyable display!

Altogether, this was a fantastically executed display that surely merits a Jupiter. That said, the weather did clearly leave some unknowns as to how the judges will really evaluate this performance, though I do suspect a good outcome. It is a pity, though, that the smoke hid a good portion of the show.

Trav.

I understand the human error vs act of God point. Don't misunderstand me I thought Vulcan put out an outstanding show for sure, and totally worthy of podium. They had a lot to prove and they could have played it safe but they didn't and all kudos to them. But location and surroundings have to be factored in when designing a display. This is fired off of a lake and in summer water is notorious for creating humidity on hot days, and there is a very real risk of low breeze at this time of year. I wasn't the first to say it or the last - they fired a lot of one shots. In the first 20 seconds of each show when the air is clearest for all teams, from the moment the first one shot was fired (not including blinking or flare effects), Italy fired 24. England fired 104. Canada fired 29. Hong Kong China fired 476. Even with a breeze that's a lot of smoke to clear. Vulcan wanted to come back fighting and show us all that they could deliver a jaw-dropping display which is an admirable and professional attitude after what happened. People who take play it safe rarely win. But for what my opinion is worth I think that designing a show that puts up so many one shots in the height of summer in a water location is just as much at risk of being smoked out as designing complex and fast sequences is at risk of more ignition errors. So for me it just came down to how I felt after each display and although Vulcan's had more technical precision, I found some parts more repetitive and less fluid than Jubilees and I just came away from Jubilee's feeling better about the world. But both were awesome, both contained unique and interesting effects that made me laugh and smile and all teams have worked very hard to create beautiful displays. Flying back now to catch the home team tomorrow night! I'll be somewhere around the 10th row center with my wife and two kids, wearing my brother's East Coast jacket if anyone wants to say hi.

I'll be somewhere around the 10th row center with my wife and two kids, wearing my brother's East Coast jacket if anyone wants to say hi.

I'm always in section 304 seat 17 row J, but on the concrete base of the old control room. Anyone is free to stop by and say hello!

Paul.

STL has created an amazing video of Vulcan's display. With a mix of footage recorded from multiple cameras, it is now possible to get a comprehensive view of the Vulcan's extravaganza. See the link to the video in this thread:

http://montreal-fireworks.com/forum/index.php?action=vthread&forum=20& topic=3077&page=-1#12

It is very complicated to assess a such display when accumulation of smoke prevents the judges to see the whole show. The most important issue, I think, is to determine to what extent we shall apply the quality of what we see to the parts of the show that we don't see. It is very challenging to do a 30-minute display without too much repetition, so we need to assess that point. In my opinion, it is now very clear that Vulcan has passed the test! I would like to emphasize the following segments, using Simon's video time marks, which were hidden behind the smoke for people who were in the grandstands:

* At 20:45, the bowtie-type shells of serpents, which is very uncommon.

* At 23:30, an amazing sequence as the fans of loud whistles that we saw from the grandstands were augmented with a barrage of shells above.

* At 25:15, a type of cylindrical shell which ended with one last shell featuring several inner effects.

* At 27:00, more cylindrical shells, of a different type than those viewed at 25:15.

With Paul and STL, I had the pleasure to discuss with Cindy and John after the closing show. In addition to the aforementioned references to their 2013 show, John told us that all segments of songs heard when the radio turned from one frequency to another were from their 2013 display. I realize, from the viewing of STL's video, how true that was.

Fred