Please use this thread to post your reviews/comments of this highly anticipated display!

Trav.

That was an outstanding performance from Vulcan and, conditionally, a strong contender for the 2015 Gold Jupiter.

More to come about this unique (and smoky) experience we had at La Ronde tonight.

Fred

Fully agree with Fred that this was an EXCELLENT display! Due to the insane amount of smoke, some colors/effects were a bit hard to spot from Notre-Dame but the shells used were top notch. Many unique effects were used, very little repetition, excellent synchro (with a firing system that fully worked this year), and a large amount of large caliber products was used. All in all, this is what Italy should have displayed since rock music must involve TREMENDOUS energy. A strong, very strong, Gold Jupiter finalist for 2015. Such a shame winds were M.I.A tonight

My predictions so far:

1) China
2) England
3) Canada
4) Italy

Definitely outstanding. Many WOWs from me and I was laughing out loud at some parts! A truly remarkable display from Vulcan.

As Simon said, they "turned the volume up to 11". Fantastic!

Paul.

I've been a "silent observer" for the last few years, but I have to speak up for tonight's show. Ever since Vulcan's 2013 showing, I (and many others) have wondered what could have been. I'd go so far as to say that the 20% of Vulcan's show that fired in their last display was better than 100% of some other entries, so expectations were high.

And, man, did they ever deliver. There's a lot of low and mid-level effects that were lost to those of us on Notre-Dame (I'm really hoping that Bob's video turned out to help fill in the blanks!) on account of the depressingly thick smoke accumulation, but that which we could see was breathtaking. So many design elements that I haven't seen before in my 6 years attending the competition, and it was obvious that Vulcan did a lot of custom manufacturing for their entry. Their elevated structures really added a lot to the show, too, though I wish I could have seen more of their impact through the smoke.

All of the products used were, unsurprisingly, of the highest quality. The colours were stunning, and when they wanted something to punch you in the chest, well, they sure knew how. I forgot how much I missed seeing large-calibre shells-of-shells!

My one quibble with the design was that the density of high-level effects wasn't terribly varied outside of the more climactic moments; there were quite a few instances of only having one or two shells detonating at once, typically in the same area of the sky. Now, often those one or two shells were dazzlingly complex, but it would have been nice to see a bit more variety in their density and positioning. Some of the edits between musical tracks were also quite harsh, but, eh, I don't think many of us had much time to care when the visuals were so consistently captivating.

But the finale. Ohhhhhh, the finale. We haven't seen anything like that for quite a while. Two full songs of bliss. The display accompanying Enter Sandman (the penultimate song) could have easily qualified as a BIG finale for most any other competitor, but Vulcan just kept rolling into Highway Star. Frankly, too much happened in those two tracks to dissect much of the specifics (I'll have to wait for Bob's replay for that), but one big takeaway was the ridiculously bright aerial flashes in Enter Sandman. I don't know what those things were or which parallel dimension they opened a portal into, but I think that I sustained a mild sunburn from their intensity... And I'm okay with that.

A lot of people standing around me seemed to think that the show was over after the Metallica track, and were delighted when they realized that there was still more to come. I heard one guy giddily exclaim to his friends that "It just keeps going!" Now, I can't speak for anyone else, but I suspect that I'm not alone in wishing that, yes, the show did keep going. Always and forever. Please don't ever stop.

Right now, I feel like the battle is for second and third place. If you like tight sync and complex low-level design, then Jubilee is in the silver spot. If you like percussive power and raw intensity, then Archangel takes that place. I waver back and forth on that matter depending on my mood, but that's neither here nor there.

Looking forward, if either America or France want to top tonight's performance from Vulcan, then they had better have something big up their sleeve. I'm thinking that a low-yield tactical nuclear weapon might bring the necessary "wow" factor to outshine tonight's show, but I suspect that that might have raised a few red flags at the border. Time will tell.

Bravo, Vulcan. Bravo. Promise fulfilled.

Tonight's show was truly excellent. Everything from the theme, the soundtrack, the effects was well done.

First off, I thought the opening with the radio "tuning" for the right frequency, without shells, was a very subtle nod to their 2013 show. They were "searching for the right frequency".

That said, the theme was clear. I thought the choice of music worked well for "on the road" with the radio sounds used in between tracks. The synchronization was very good and the shell quality was great. I particularly liked the "waving" hands on what I believe is ramp 5.

The only pitfall... I think the song "Smoke on the Water" sums it up well. By the midpoint in the show, we were barely able to see some of the shells. All we saw is a faint outline of what the effect was supposed to be. This is really too bad since the show had a lot of potential.

If I'm looking for criticism, it might have came in their shell choices. A few parts, particularly near the opening (when the smoke didn't obstruct everything), were just a tad repetitive. However, I wouldn't penalize that too much.

Since I missed England, even with the smoke problems, my personal rankings:
1) Hong Kong, China
2) Canada,
3) Italy

That was an outstanding performance from Vulcan and, conditionally, a strong contender for the 2015 Gold Jupiter (more on this reservation below). I had huge expectations for this show and the result exceeded all them! Vulcan’s journey into the Montreal International Fireworks Competition is unique, and so was the experience at La Ronde tonight.

As many people know, Vulcan did its debut display here in 2013. At the time, the setup looked promising, but a dramatic failure with the wireless firing system prevented the ignition of a large part of the display. That night, the designer, Cindy Cheung Vermeulen, addressed the issue through an unprecedent speech to the people gathered inside the Salon des artificiers. However, what we saw was convincing enough to call for another appearance of Vulcan in Montreal. I did it myself, writing in my review that Vulcan’s designer “is a woman who faces up to the hard things”, and imagining how we could bring Vulcan back as soon as possible. I was more than happy to see Vulcan in the 2015 line-up when it was released. And, apparently, I was not alone : tonight, the large audience at La Ronde included several long-time viewers who occasionnally attend shows on-site and who purposefully selected this one. Everyone hoped for a fabulous experience.

My expectations were fueled even more when I arrived at La Ronde, and when I rode the Ferris Wheel, with two other forum posters who were as excited as I was. We saw pyrotechnic devices e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e.




Countless firing positions along the 2nd ramp. From the road, a structure with lollipops, among other things, is hanged from a crane.








Swinging fountains lit up when these devices, located on several firing ramps, came into life.




While this show was different than the one partially fired in 2013, we knew from Paul’s and Mylène’s interviews that some effects were brought back. The title of the show made a veiled reference to this “encore”-type component : On the road again (something lost in translation, Sur la route). Of course, we were also anxious about any new technical failure. So the drama increased as the beginning of the show has been delayed by a couple of minutes (maybe 2 or 3 minutes).

Following the countdown, it appeared that Vulcan had another veiled reference to its previous show in store! It took one moment before the firing of the initial sequence of pyros (making me even more nervous), just the time to start up the motor car and to tune in the radio to the right music frequence, as we heard from the well-edited soundtrack. Of course, due to the wireless firing system, to select the right frequence is critical! (Thank you to Ryguy2008 who opened my eyes on this one!) Then, the show properly began with fast sequences from several fans and lollipops, added by mines and loud crackles.

Immediately, the quality of the pyrotechnic material became obvious, as well as the very high level reached by several shells. I rarely move my camera to a such angle to capture them. Furthermore, I have rarely seen so many innovative effects in a single display : shells of opposing rings of comets tied by other comets in the middle; shells of half rings of stars and of other “half” effects (instead of full circles); shells of ring of comets with inner hearts; swinging fountains with a red star above; mines of almost stationnary white bees (A Kind of Magic) ; countless multi-effect shells, etc. A lot of pieces featured changes of colours, even in sequences (during the aforementioned Queen’s song).

The technical design was awesome. Despite the lack of nautical products, many effects were very close to the audience thanks to the fifth ramp. Moreover, several sequences stressed the depth of the firing area. As soon as the beginning of the 2nd segment, on the music of Eye in the Sky, several shaped fountains came into life on ramps 3 and 5 (as well as on the arms between ramps 2 and 3) with, above, stars of various colors shooting from cakes. The next segment (The Logical Song) began with flares of various colors across the firing area, with gorgeous gerbs of the same colors, then with massive multi-angled cakes shooting stars from different ramps. On the music of Dust in the Wind, three two-way rotative structures (which reminded me some Irdieden, Maltese wheels) came into life (the middle one doesn’t work well, however).

The density of the show was outstanding. We had three finale-style segments. The first one, around the first third of the show, was made of very loud whistles. The second one was, in fact, the opening of the Ozzy Osbourne’s Rocky Mountain Way, which included whistles and loud salutes. The actual finale was larger and louder, but we couldn’t see everything due to smoke accumulation.

The synchronization was flawless throughout the show (as far as we could see), with several note-synchronized sequences. The pyromusical design was really great. The soundtrack and the overall theme of road trips were highlighted by many sequences, especially between some songs. Thus, the sound of the car moving on the highway was reflected, once, by almost 20 wheels rotating along the third ramp (an idea which caused me one more WOW!) and, in another time, by chase sequences of white gerbs. The soundtrack wasn’t just a series of songs ; it also featured these sounds who helped to convey the theme of the show without any narrative.

****

Whereas the firing system obviously worked this time, another issue has threaten Vulcan’s show and it prevented us to fully enjoy it. We can’t say that the weather was fully cooperative tonight. The wind velocity was too weak to effectively move the smoke away. The accumulation of smoke over the lake ironically became an issue at the mid-point of the show, during the song Smoke on the Water (the successive barrages of massive mines of various colours didn’t help!), which was followed by Dust in the Wind... it could not be invented! At one point, the wall of smoke became impenetrable and it reminded me the American show of 2002 (minus the heavy rain, fortunately). The plume of smoke reached the grandstands toward the end of the show. The scene would have been very appropriate for the Armageddon theme of the Canadian display.

I wonder how the current jury members have dealt with this issue and what the impact on Vulcan’s ranking may be. I can imagine that some of them are concerned about what they could not see. We actually missed several effects during the second half of the display (especially high-level products) and it is more difficult, for instance, to point out technical problems which may have occured, or to validate the lack of repetitive patterns through this 31-minute show. Despite of that, in my opinion, our view of the show remained clear enough during the first half of the extravaganza, thus allowing to assess the performance on most criteria. We could also see many effects during the second half and get a sense of what was going on. This epic situation will extend the suspense up to the Award ceremony.

****

I want to acknowledge Vulcan team for this fantastic display which really entertained me, as well as the competition organizers who decided to invite Vulcan to perform once again. I already call for a third invitation !

My ranking so far :

1. Vulcan (Hong Kong, China)
2. Jubilee Fireworks (England)
3. Archangel Fireworks (Canada)
4. A.P.E. Parente (Italy)


Fred

If you want to download the video file, right click on this URL and "save target as"

http://www.burchcom.com/2015/hongkong.mp4

500 MB

LOTS of Smoke!

Nice video of the last 8 minutes of the Vulcan Fireworks​ show taken from Longeuil - so we can see the shells! http://youtu.be/jqyJ7oZGJJc

If anyone else has video from the Montreal side, please post it here!

Paul

Hi everyone,

I saw all the shows this year from La Ronde, but this was the only time where I felt compelled to write a review since it was so good.

I was there during Vulcan's 2013 entry and I felt strongly heartbroken for the team as they had a solid design on paper and their soundtrack appeared to have been quite enjoyable too. After their performance, I witnessed Cindy Cheung's speech and was able to talk with a member of the crew. I told them that although there were problems, I had seen pyrotechnic material and design patterns I had never seen before.

Fast forward to this year. Before the season started, I was not sure if I would attend this year but I knew one thing : I had to be there for Vulcan's entry even if I missed all the other shows.

Their theme, On the Road Again, could not have been better chosen. Cindy and John took a similar approach as their previous entry, with a Classical Rock soundtrack made of a limited selection of songs to make us appreciate each fully instead of using short excerpts.

The design once again appeared to be very solid, as witnessed by Paul and Fred on the Ferris Wheel and myself from the Salon des Artificiers - Ramps #3 and #5 were overflowing with pyrotechnic material and one of the senior pyrotechnicians in La Ronde said last Wednesday that they were expecting an extremely difficult set-up due to the sheer quantity and complexity involved with this display. A full trailer-load of cakes was expected to be installed.

Unfortunately, Travis' spot-on forecast of high humidity and low winds combined with the smoke-heavy pyrotechnic material installed on the ramps caused many of us to worry that Vulcan was once again the victim of bad luck. I asked Mylène to perform a Dance of the Wind (like she had done a few years back) and I tried to channel the spirits of George Lamon and Giovanni Panzera so they would provide us with 30 minutes of an Easterly strong wind, to no avail. The flag on top of the Orbite remained stubbornly down although I did give us hope a few minutes before the show as it tried to rise painfully but in the end remained down.

Like the others, I was worried that the display did not start on time. The prerecorded team and display presentation was started at 21:59, so it was quite clear that unless the countdown was started right at the end of the speech, we would be in for a late start.

Once the Ferris Wheel lights started to shut-off in sequence, I was eagerly expecting something, be it rising shells or even some flares and a narration. There was nothing, but with all the checks they must have done this time with the firing system, I suspected it was all planned.

The soundtrack began with sputtering engine sounds and a car radio being tuned, which like Fred and Ryguy2008 said must have referred to the firing system mishap in 2013, then the display proper started. What a relief !

It became apparent quickly on that the smoke was accumulating fast, but fortunately the design used by Vulcan emphasized a clear separation between the high and low levels, which allowed some early smoke to clear while we were delighted with flights of very complex and unusual shells, like the heart-within-another-pattern, the ghost ring shells, where the color change would roll around the ring and some colorful multibreaks. The high quantity of bigger shells became readily apparent, as my neck started to ache from looking up so much of the time.

However, this display could not be described only with the high level shells since the low level was definitely the most complex part of the display (and due to smoke, the only one we saw from 15 minutes on).

Complex sequences of one-shots were featured, including the now famous Mount Fuji pattern synhronized to lyrics that mentioned a mountain, and dazzling criss-crossing stars with spikes made of fountains on Ramp #5 during Eye in The Sky.

The most successful although simple to execute effect in the 2013 display made a triumphant return this year during the Low Rider song : fountains were tethered to Ramp #4 (for the first part) and Ramp #3 later on and rose upon ignition then bounced up and down gently at the end of their chain, causing me to almost pass out from laughing. This particular segment surpassed in my mind the infamous golden fishes segment in Royal 2009 for its comical aspect. One had to be there to appreciate it fully, since this kind of effect does not translate well to video.

Another particularly funny segment of this show was using pyrotechnic wheels to represent a car speeding along (with the corresponding sound effect as well).

People seating next to me might have noticed how I tend to become an "orchestra conductor" during the displays in which I become the most emotionally involved. If I know the songs well, I tend to point the sky with my finger when I expect a pyrotechnic manifestation to occur in tandem with a particular motif in the soundtrack. Most of the times with other display companies, my anticipated finger-pointed cues fall flat, causing me disappointment.

However, I'm giving a perfect note (get it ?) to Vulcan for their flawless synchronization, since for the very first time since 2008 all the cues I wanted to see were triggered seemingly right on cue from my finger (OK, I'll lead myself out).

After the show, I was able to catch Cindy and the crew before they entered the Salon des Artificiers. I told her it was the best display I have ever seen since 2008, when I started following the competition. She appeared uncertain and asked me if I had the ability to see through smoke, but I told her I saw all I had to see despite of the heavy smoke and wished her luck for the Gold Jupiter.

I talked to many people after the show (even shaking hands with all Vulcan pyrotechnicians, something I had never done) and the feeling was almost unanimous. Some people said the design was unreasonable and is what caused the smoke accumulation, but to use a poker metaphor, I prefer to believe that after their 2013 display, Vulcan decided to go all-in with an outrageous but extremely well thought design and bet that weather would be cooperative. They lost that bet, but it would be a damn shame if they also lost their deserved Gold Jupiter at this point.

I wanted to talk a second time with the designers before I left, but unfortunately I could not. I would like to write here what I would have liked to tell them : if you have doubts, remember the crowd screaming restlessly during the show. My own voice was broken this morning since I had screamed at the top of my lungs for the best part of the show.

All in all, I hope the jury saw the same thing I did (and since they seat next to me, how could they not) and give the Gold Jupiter to this deserving team's triumphant return.

STL

Paul wrote:
Nice video of the last 8 minutes of the Vulcan Fireworks​ show taken from Longeuil - so we can see the shells! If anyone else has video from the Montreal side, please post it here!

Yeah. During the show, I suspected the launch of some cylindrical shells, but I wasn't sure due to the screen of smoke. These shells, bursting multiple times at the rose, appeared clearly at the beginning of this video.

It would be worth to have a point of view from Notre-Dame Street. While previous posters indicated smoke issues from that viewpoint too, it may have been better than from La Ronde or the South shore. Trav, did you record the show?

STL wrote:
I saw all the shows this year from La Ronde, but this was the only time where I felt compelled to write a review since it was so good.

Simon, I think your reaction and the ones of other posters confirm that we really had an outstanding show. (I rarely use this qualification!) This is a show that people are going to talk about for years to come.

I ended my review with the wish to see Vulcan for a third show in Montreal. I also come across some stuff from the latest Disneyland Park nighttime parade, Paint the Night, which had initially been introduced to Hong Kong Disney's park. I would suggest Cindy and her team to consider this parade song for their next Montreal show. I'm sure that the verse and chorus encapsulate the feeling of many of us, today:

Switch on the sky and the stars glow for you
Go see the world 'cause it's all so brand new
Don't close your eyes 'cause your future's ready to shine
It's just a matter of time, before we learn how to fly
Welcome to the rhythm of the night
There's something in the air you can't deny (Deny)

Put your hands up 'cause the night is young
Kick your knees up when you join the fun
As the magic sets us all aglow Oh oh
I gotta know (my friends) when can we do this again?
Oh oh oh oh
I never want this to end
Oh oh oh oh
When can we do this again?
Oh oh oh oh
I gotta know, when can we do this again?

(The full soundtrack is available here, with the aforementioned lyrics from 1:30 to 2:35.)

Fred

I was real glad to catch this display before heading to the UK for meetings that threatened to roll on a second week and risk me missing the home team this Saturday (old Ohio boy).
So we sat down and the air was electric with excitement for this team. There was a whole bunch of chatter and the common theme was 'Please fire please just fire'. And boy did they fire! But not at first. I was surprised that they chose an opening which meant nothing fired for at least 20 seconds given the obvious tension. When effects started firing there was a mass sigh of relief. The opening sequence was quick, precise, and big! The use of the 360 was a thrill, and big fans covered the whole front, and although it was a shame to see the same sequences repeated throughout the first song, there were some real nice shells put up. Second song was a slow starter - banks of triple shells but patience rewarded with that vertical wall of color and some nice single ignition patterns which carried on through to the third song. Massive shells that gave me neck ache! Weather conditions somewhat similar to England's night albeit around 2/3mph less movement meant that the much higher quantity of low level effects was already starting to create a wall of smoke that couldn't clear fast enough. By Free Ride the effects were getting bigger and faster much to the delight of the crowd. Real nice patterns and great colors. I was so happy to see pyro fire for these guys that the impact of having so much pyro launch from almost every front position next to a lake didn't dawn on me until 2 songs later. Not a beat was missed in Low Rider, couple of errors but accurate for the most part. As the sky heated up the air slowed down and regrettably the smoke wasn't clearing. When Queen kicked in making the crowd elated, we were already having difficulties seeing some effects. The chaser sequence near the end was spectacular and accurate but the mass smoke meant we couldn't hardly see the 360s right after it. Effects were firing inside the smoke cloud like a lightning storm and when Deep Purple came the elation for seeing an amazing and spectacular display turned to trepidation. If there was anything this show didn't need right now it was more smoke. Dust in the Wind was too darned accurate and the rotating structures with five point candles made static 'chemtrails'. By Rocky Mountain Way well we were just praying for a breeze which wouldn't arrive. We knew the sky was lit with shells at the end of Sweet Child but we couldn't see the detail. Nice single ignition patterns emerged through the ground clearing smoke through to Aerosmith but we lost the shells which re-emerged briefly in Metallica. The finale song was perfect for this vibrant theme and we were able to see some fast and accurate single ignition but a plume of smoke was lit up with gigantic shells we were so desperate to see. The show ended to rousing applause. Well done Vulcan!

So what do I think about the podium spot? Honestly, I don't know. The more I thought about the Vulcan show the more I realized I'd gotten caught up in a tidal wave of affection from a crowd desperate to see this great team finally pull it out of the box. It was an amazing show hands down. But did they throttle up so much they killed it in another way? Last time a technical error meant we only saw 20% of the show. How much more did we actually see this time with so much pyro fired that the smoke hid so much?

So here's my view on what I see as the top 2 contenders for the gold so far.

Jubilee Fireworks.
Upside. Heart thumping soul wrenching mind blowing display. Very little repetition. Spectacular vibrant colors. Ingenious effects (gigantic rising heart shape, rainbow sky, angel wings, rain effect shells). Impeccable timing. Highly complex sequences. Superb interpretation (i.e blue/ red flares in Uptown Funk) Diverse soundtrack and a beautiful message.
Downside. Higher than average firing errors. Finale could have been bigger?

Vulcan Fireworks. Upside.
Technically exceptional. Great soundtrack. Stunning single ignition patterns. Nice variety of shells. Massive shells! Great use of space - walls of color and fans as far as the eye could see. Timing excellent. Sky completely filled.
Downside. Threw so much in the sky that half of the show was obscured by smoke. Somewhat repetitive shell sequences (triple shells repeated). Did someone mention smoke?

Granted the weather is not always the same and the breeze was less for Vulcan than Jubilee but everyone knows throwing that much pyro from I guess 50+ positions including ramp 4 in the middle of a lake is gonna cause you a sweat. Did anyone see that vertical effect fire shown in the photos above? So which way will it go? Being able to see all of Jubilee's much more inventive display (IMO) but much less accurate? Or missing half of Vulcan's bigger calibre display behind a wall of smoke? I guess for me it's still the one that made me laugh, cry, and jump out of my skin. Vulcan put out an enormous and amazing show but a lot of my elation was because it fired and the effects were sky-filling. Jubilee elated me because I saw things I'd never seen before. I guess it will come down to smoke and errors.

Great job Vulcan. You did yourselves proud and blew that ghost out of the sky.

Vulcan's show was definitely the best one yet. Great products and great synchronization when present. The cloud of smoke was probably not just because of the lack of wind, they are using too many huge cakes that would definitely create a lot of smoke. I'm sure that everyone watching the show live loved the show because of the huge amounts of materials they were firing However, for me there was just no magic. They are firing a loot but it still looks more like a demonstration of their newest materials and gimick rather than a pyromusical with emotions. That said, I would still place their show above everyone else's at this point of the competition! I'm sure that hiring the Galaxis wizard, Renzo worked to their favor

Next shows would probably be very good!

Best Regards,
Vander

There was very little or no wind on Saturday night and anyone there would have seen the large Laronde flag stuck to the pole for most of the duration of the Vulcan show. I think it is a tad unfair to start blaming the display company for using too much products, thereby causing the accumulation of smoke. You can see on the video that Vulcan alternated between high level and low level fireworks for smoke dispersion.

All fireworks produce smoke! Perhaps if Vulcan had only used 20% of products they shot, there would be no accumulation of smoke but what show would that have been like?

On the other hand, scripting and labeling errors are the result of the display company’s error. So, how can one judge a show on wind (Act of God) vs error (Act of Human)?

My report: http://montreal-fireworks.com/ReportBlog/?p=1056

I really don't know how the judges will rank this display, but I know that I was thoroughly entertained, as was the audience at La Ronde. That's what really counts, at the end of the day. There were many small touches that just made me laugh out loud!

Paul.