Warm and very humid conditions were present for the German display. The enhanced humidity by the late-afternoon to evening period was due to heavy rainfall from a weakening thunderstorm that originated to the NW of the West Island. This created a humidex of about 32 C, with a base temperature of 24 C. Light WNW winds were also pushing the rapidly developing smoke very gently towards the central and left-hand sections of the La Ronde audience.
This was a very enjoyable display from beginning to end. Indeed, we observed many barrages of large overhead shells throughout the show, and there were numerous rounds of shells of shells and multi-breaks, with the display beginning forcefully with a sequence of these (which is always a great way to begin a display after the countdown). Furthermore, there was extensive use of shells of salutes, creating many active segments, much to the somewhat small audience’s delight. The quality of the products used was excellent, and we were able to appreciate the richness of the colors from Notre-Dame Street because of the nature of the wind direction, although the very high humidity and near-saturated air quickly drowned away the colors. The drooping effects, including the silver horsetails, shells of glittering stars and falling leaves actually worked quite well during the slower-paced segments, as did the silver and red photoflashes. One of the more memorable segments was that involving the piano, where we were able to enjoy an intricate series of low-level sequences of one-shot angled mines and candles.
Some criticisms that I had for the display, however, were related to the overall pyromusical design of the show. While the theme appeared relevant, given the selection of music that had been employed to represent it, I felt that the representation of the music was often very generally portrayed through the pyrotechnics. As much as I enjoyed the display’s noisy and vibrating nature, I was hoping to also see more attempts at precise/tight synchronization, as what had been exemplified during the aforementioned piano segment, given the elements surrounding the theme and music. Instead, the firing and burst patterns of the shells were frequently similar in rhythm and did not always bring out the music thoroughly as I previously envisioned. The choice of effects was also conserved, and this further limited the overall complexity of the display. Finally, I thought that there were too few soundtrack - using too few can be a bold choice, as could the use of numerous songs. As such, it is important to be able to strike some kind of balance. In the case of fewer songs, the danger is that firing patterns can become monotonous because each song would usually endure for an extended period of time. Here, it would have been interesting to introduce at least a few other selections that could potentially offer more opportunity for enhanced choreography and increased diversification. The finale was good, but I found it rather short. This may be that it was broken down into individual pieces, as opposed to being combined into one continuous part.
Given these criticisms, this certainly does not take away from the enjoyment of the display. I personally love energetic, fast-paced, loud, and vibrating displays such as this (composed of large shells, shells of shells, multi-breaks, photoflashes, shells of salutes, etc.), so I, and many others, was thoroughly entertained. That said, due to the overall simplistic design of the display, it may be difficult for it to be awarded with a Jupiter award this year.
Trav.
