Please post your reviews/comments of the American display here!

Trav.

Very enjoyable display by the American team.

First off, thank goodness for wind.

I thought the soundtrack was well put together with good transitions between songs. I wasn't crazy about the long narration at the beginning. I find it serves little purpose and just kills the mood from the countdown. That said, the classical and contemporary music mix worked quite well and the synchronization was excellent throughout. The pieces used were also mostly great, especially the whites were some of the brightest I've seen in a while.

I had a good laugh when, at the beginning, one of the "flower" structures took a bit longer to open and the La Ronde pyro team near me started cheering when it finally opened.

There were a handful of technical problems. A few times I felt the symmetry was off. I also thought the choice of shells for the Vivaldi piece immediately after Seven Nation Army didn't make sense. The shells used during Seven Nation Army and the classical piece after were of the same intensity, even though the songs are of very different pace.

Likewise, the highly anticipated waterfall didn't totally work and some parts were a bit too repetitive. My only other criticism was that, without the soundtrack in front of me (which I don't bring when I'm not a judge), the 4 seasons weren't clear. I thought spring was sort of clear with the white and some green colours, but I was mostly guessing.

Overall, a very respectable and enjoyable show. I thought the choice of shells for most songs was excellent, the design was interesting and there was an interesting use of colour. Mixing classical and contemporary music is a risk but it paid off.

As per usual, since I missed England, my rankings:

1) Hong Kong, China
2) USA - tonight
3) Canada
4) Italy

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

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

786 MB

That was a good show from USA. I indeed saw some italian ways in the design, some single shot sequences reminded me of sequences by Ipon. The show's design was comparable to Italy's show this year too. Maybe it was too simple, some parts needed more ground fireworks support such as roman candles. The single shot parts were pretty good with some new ideas but again it was too simple specially the parts of the music that they are synchronizing to. I think this is when you see that the designer is a bit new to designing shows. Most of the time the fireworks doesn't really match the songs such as when they use whistles and salutes in some of the segments. That said, it wasn't a bad show by the americans with some great italian products. I specially liked panzera's lemon, aqua and orange shells and single shots.

The next 2 shows are the ones I'm waiting for the most!

Best Regards,
Vander

That was a very good show from Rozzi’s Famous Fireworks and, at this stage of the competition, a contender for a Jupiter. The “seasons” theme has been explored by other contestants in previous editions of the Montreal International Fireworks Competition, especially the Japanese entrant (Marutamaya) in 2002 and the Canadian one (Garden City Display Fireworks) in 2013. Whereas the former had a poetic style, and the latter featured songs related to North American typical activities for each season, this one was more metaphorical, combining Vivaldi’s famous musics with the life cycle (hence, the “Seasons of Life” title).

The mingling of American and European influences, reflecting the journey from Italy to the United States of the Rozzi family itself, was obvious in the pyros style as well as in the soundtrack. I really liked the blending of Italian Vivaldi’s classical composition and popular songs from American and European artists. Each Vivaldi’s season was followed by two songs related to a given stage in the life cycle, from the early (spring) to the older (winter) years. It was the best theme of all four Rozzi’s shows I have seen in Montreal, while I guess it has not been very clear for people who did not get any background information. I suppose that was the purpose of the introduction narrative, which was supported with a line of strobes along the third ramp and was shorter (35 seconds) than the anti-climactic opening speech and darkness period of 50 seconds in 2005. Some of transitions between musics were carefully edited (i.e., the one between Vivaldi’s Primavera and Flashdance); others, a bit less.

The pyromusical design was also very good. Immediately after the introduction narrative, the opening segment provided a nice symbol of the birth of life with the opening of five fans of gerbs installed at the top of “stems”, on the fifth ramp. Rozzi used fixed sticks to display such gerbs on the same ramp in 2005, as shown in the following picture. (Fanatics will remember the previous grandstands area with the lower control room and the impressive line-up of flagpoles in the background, along the La Ronde main aisle where crowd could stand and have a great front view.)



This time, the sticks were linked together at first. After a couple of seconds, they splitted off to create five fans, each made of seven gerbs. As Ryguy2008 wrote previously, the second fan was reluctant to open... but everyone doesn’t grow at the same pace in life! More seriously, about fifteen minutes before the display, some members of La Ronde pyro crew were still looking at these devices, from their boat. I was afraid about any technical problem which might delay the beginning of the show. It started promptly at 10:00pm, but the crew was obvisouly trying to avoid this specific problem related to fans opening.





Following Vivaldi’s L’Estate, the summer season featured some thunders, with several sequences of very bright pyrotechnic effects. Then, Mother Nature “cooperated” with the show as a light rain started, exactly at the same time than the rainy season, on Vivaldi’s L’Autunno. Without the previously posted Trav’s very precise forecast, I would have suspected that Rozzi discovered the chemical compound which, once released, causes the fall of droplet suspended in atmosphere! Then, the winter snowfall, which echoed the end of life cycle, appeared with a large waterfall hanging from two lifts located on ramp 2. However, the waterfall had a short duration and it took too much time to ignate it, so it (dis)appeared in phases, so to speak. That was a shame, especially as we know from previous displays (e.g., Pyromagic [Hong Kong] in 2007 and, especially, Hanwha [South Korea] in 2008) that it is possible to make it more effective, by lighting up the entire waterfall much more quickly.



The finale, on the music of The Show Must Go On, was a great moment. Beginning with note-synchronized sequences of comets and/or mines shot from the third ramps, and shells of red stars and white comets, it turned into all-kamuros barrages of shells, then white shells of comets with loud salutes.

Without being very innovative, the technical design was good, with most sequences mixing pyrotechnic effects at different levels in the sky. Various nautical products, including a carpet of red flares and nautical mines in the opening segment, and some nautical fountains later, were launched on the lake. It would have been possible to make the most of the firing area depth, and to bring to the audience a feeling of being closer to the show with more effective use of the fifth ramp and larger nautical products. For instance, some nautical shells would have been a great addition to the finale.

We saw pyrotechnic products of good quality, especially for the richness and vividness of the colours, including the aforementioned bright comets, shells, and Niagara falls shot during Bring me to life. Beyond the pattern of rainbow with chases of mines and shells of the same colours, we saw different shades of blue/aqua, yellow/orange, and green/lime products. However, the accumulation of dim shells, displayed in the Hall of Fame segment, could not be appreciated as much, given the intensity of light from the city in the background. (It was nevertheless a great build-up to bring the spring segment to a close.)

Generally speaking, I agree with previous posters and other people I discussed with after the show, who argued that Rozzi’s extravaganza has lacked of diversity with the products and firing patterns. This show featured several great ideas, but it was somewhat repetitive. Some other contestants have displayed a wider range of pyrotechnic effects, including more complex patterns from shells. However, that was a very cohesive performance, with a wonderful soundtrack which could bring a range of emotions to each viewer. Also, the show didn’t suffer of any significant technical problem.

That was the 6th appeareance of Rozzi's Famous Fireworks in Montreal, the previous ones being in 1992 (Silver Jupiter), 1993, 1997, 2000, and 2005 (Silver Jupiter). I had seen their shows in 1997, 2000 and 2005 and, among those, I believe this year presentation was the best. Given the smoke issue which may jeopardize the position of the Hong Kong team on the podium, and the excellent performance of the British recruit, I would say that Rozzi shall be in competition with the Canadian team for the Silver and/or Bronze Jupiter, at this stage of the competition.

My personal ranking so far :

1. Vulcan (Hong Kong, China)
2. Jubilee Fireworks (England)
3. Rozzi’s Famous Fireworks (United States)
4. Archangel Fireworks (Canada)
5. A.P.E. Parente (Italy)

****

Next show. I am looking forward to Paul's and Mylène's interviews with the French entrant, Jacques Couturier Organisation (JCO), whose display remains a mystery for me. The soundtrack available on the official website looks very unusual, and so is going to be the show according to a good source I heard from, last night. For those who are used to watch the show from other locations, it may be especially worth to come on-site to really appreciate this one. I recommend to come via the transit system and to avoid traffic jam after the show. A bus will drive you from the Jean-Drapeau metro station to the La Ronde entrance.



While you may be believe that La Ronde is actually close given the fences which still block the way from the bus stop, don't be afraid to walk through. It is the best way to support our favourite summer event, which seems to be increasingly threatened by various economic and political issues.

Fred

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37cUqw_GzQM

Last 14 minutes of the USA show if anyone is interested.

My report: http://montreal-fireworks.com/ReportBlog/?p=1069

Paul.

Great show by the USA team. I wasn't able to see the three previous shows, but I find England's display to be better than the one by USA. Fences are everywhere at La Ronde! Looks like my favorite spot near the arcade is now ruined by blocking fences. The former La Cremiere place is being used to sell seat tickets. The right side of the little white house, which I consider to be the best viewing area, is now inaccessible (I'm assuming). This year, they've also added paid seats in front of the white house!

The only "free" somewhat decent viewing area left is the one in front of the carousel. But that, too, is no longer as good as before. So sure, buy your season pass and come to La Ronde, but pay an extra $10 to get a decent view of the fireworks.

Maybe I'll follow Fred's suggestion and get a seat for France's show.

Warm late-evening temperatures of 22-23 C and very high humidity (yet again) were present for the American team’s display. Light showers also made an appearance during parts of the evening. Fortunately, light SSW winds were strong enough to mostly move the smoke adequately enough to the right of the La Ronde audience.

This was a very nicely executed display. The colors were rich and diversified, and there was a fair range of product variety, especially along low-level, along with very good product quality. The audience especially appreciated the shells of salutes and multi-breaks (as usual), and, like for Vulcan’s display, loved the burst of screaming serpents coming from some of the mines. The nauticals were also fantastic. I especially appreciated the fast and very tight sequences of mines, gerbs, candles and comets along low-levels of the display, and the splash of colors were sometimes overwhelming - this was a particularly strong demonstration during “What a Feeling” (my personal favorite segment) and “Titanium”. Ramp 5 was also nicely used to augment low-altitude sequences by adding symmetry and vertical depth. Synchronization was excellent and worked often creatively with the flow of the display, and the choice of effects suited reasonably well to highlight key components that engendered many of the musical selections.

Transitions in rhythm and pace were also well established and created some emotional ties to the display. The music choice, overall, was interesting and was actually a different approach to represent such a theme, but I found that it offered many venues to make a creative and effective pyromusical design. As Fred noted above, I also thought that the appearance of light showers during that segment, “L’Autunno”, added a very inviting feeling to the display, and appropriately in time for that point! The finale truly had a 90s feel/design to it!

I enjoyed much of what the display had to offer. However, I felt that there were some periods of repetition with some effects. In particular, those drooping effects (such as horsetails and fireflies) became rather common and sometimes created similarities from one segment to another. This was also occasionally the case with firing patterns along low-level. While I enjoyed the conceptual framework of the theme, it didn’t always seem as clear-cut as that attempt by the Canadian team in 2013 with a similar theme. I also found the narration at the beginning a little too prolonged for my tastes, as it produced that anti-climactic feel following the countdown. Some of the musical selections were also not overly clear in relation to the theme.

All in all, a very good performance by the American team which is certainly in contention for a Jupiter.

Trav.