Well, just got back from an amazing and interesting display. I must say, it was very well done. It truly showed and represented Chinese culture.
I'll try to make this short because I'm really exhausted! I'll have more tomorrow.
To start off, the weather. It cooperated, as I thought. We had a perfect summer evening with heavy humidity, which could be responsible for the smoke build up. I did notice that at one time the smoke kind of obscured some of the lower shells at one time and plus, there was a little lack of wind to blow it away quickly.
Synchronization was absolutely flawless. I observed the soundtrack and it pretty much matched the pace of the fireworks in each segment extremely well. I liked the soundtrack due to the fact that most of it was fast paced, most of the time. I could tell from the title, "Butterflies and Dragons," that you could notice when the butterfly theme was present, and then the intensity of the dragons. Typical in a Chinese display. A lot of variations of rhythm and pace to represent those particular effects.
About the new shells and colours used, I could definitely tell when they were present during the show. They were very nicely integrated to the display. I had fun guessing where they were going to show up! Also, the new colours were very impressive and some of those shells were massive and really REALLY chest thumping!
There was also something else that I've noticed. For those of us on De Lorimier and Notre-Dame, you could see that some of the fireworks were really close to the people on the bridge. It looked so close that the people could literally see or even touch the sparkles trailing towards them. Well, all I'm saying is that some of them were a little too close to the bridge, I think. Not a major criticism, though. Just a concern for people on the bridge.
Aside from that, a lot of the fireworks, especially the wheeping willows, were trailing to the St-Lawrence River. That was nice and so dramatic, too! I also loved that rain like noise after effects in the first half of the show. Truly stunning.
The display itself was very enjoyable. A lot of intensity and quite a bit of massive shells and great effects, like the multiple rings, butterflies and spheres. A lot of variety and colour and plus, they were also very noisy and loud! The show itself was a traditional type display, but was somewhat original, in its own unique perspective. It was a different approach to the other firms and plus, they were very creative. Although, I think Holland is still the most authentic. They were the ones with the most originality, especially the the use and integration of the 2 towers.
As for the finale, I was kind of disappointed with it. Don't get me wrong, it was actually pretty good in intensity, but just not long enough. This is probably the finale that started off with the fastest intensity, but if they kept going on like that for a little while more, it would've been perfect. They had a lot of salutes and colour, but it's the longevity that was missing. It just wasn't enough to leave me breathless. This is my only criticism, though. I guess after seing an ending like Caballer and IPON, you would expect more. I know a lot of people around me were expecting additional length and more build up. It really did fill the sky in colour and brightness, but not lasting. However, still, not a bad finale, none the less.
Otherwise, a great show, and it looks like it could be up there for Platinum Jupiter standings, struggling with some others, of course. Very tough for the judges, indeed! Bound to be disappointment!
What a year!
Regards,
Trav.
