Hey guys,

You can use this thread to post your reviews when you get back, or, if you're tired, sometime tomorrow.

Well, enjoy the show and feel the 27+ degrees tonight. Far better than last time. Despite the humidity, there should be enough wind to clear smoke build up. Oh yes, bring an umbrella, just in case.

Regards,

Trav.

Thanks for your advice Trav.

I will be there on the bridge, hoping that we will be bombarded with salutes!

Talk to you later.

Pierre

Hey Pierre and everyone else.

Just got back from what I call an EXCELLENT and SUPERBE DISPLAY!!!!

Smoke says: Very very well done all the way through in every criteria.

I must comment about the weather and the crowd. The weather was that sticky and humid! It really stayed steady at 27-30 degrees Celsius while the humidity made it feel like 40 or more! It was honestly one of the hottest nights on record, as far as I remember. Kind of like last year's Italy display. However, just West of where I was, there was some cumulus delveloments at 8:45 P.M, but thankfully, it fizzled out and didn't turn into a thunderstorm. Anyways, it was also one of the largest crowds ever. A sharp contrast to that of last week's pit weather of 16C. It just goes to show how perception is affected by warm temperatures. Thick jackets were the story last week and this week, we got short sleeves and shorts! I'm pretty certain that there was about almost 400,000 people there tonight. No joke.

The opening segment was so dramatic and almost felt like a finale! It was bright and loud. I emphasize "loud," especially with those huge shells all the way through. In fact, I felt as if most segments felt like a finale, especially with those multi brakers and salute combonations! I'm sure Pierre was happy tonight, as much as I was! There were so many dramatic and exciting moments that it was hard to tell what was going on at times. More than half the display was literally exciting and creative, particularly when there were combonations and quick pace motions of massive shells at the top while loud salutes at the bottom with those glittering fountains. Also, the opening felt like a build up, which made it dramatic and, it started on time, which has a positive impact on the audience, for sure!

Synchronization was so well done, especially in the segment with all those red flares at the bottom, which was done in other segments, too. Even when there wasn't much action in the sky, I was seriously enjoying myself listening to the music going along well with the bottom effects, especially the dancing red flares. It corresponded to the music perfectly. Not just this, but the quick paced music made the fireworks enjoyable with the authentic effect.

The music was superbe. An excellent choice because of rhythm and pace. The beat was also ideal for this type of display and worked well with the fireworks, in my opinion. It also worked well with the creativity of the display. I enjoyed it and I know others who did, too.

Originality and concept were apparent, as well as creativity, particularly with the pace between and in between segments which sort of builded on each other. The red flares, for example, must've been very creative on the lake, especially with reflectivity. The heart shells were another enjoyable piece. The bright massive shells also dazzled the audeince while salutes accompanied excitement and color. The mixes and blends also worked so well. I was also pleased to see the use of the girandolas. Those always put a delightful impression on the audience. I don't know if some of you noticed, but I think one of them was heading to the bridge! Very nicely done.

The show also fulfilled its bargain with its theme "passion." You can see where love and other emotions were clearly demonstrated, especially excitment. That WAS apparent with the "what seems to be a finale" segments. There were so many points like this where things went hyper. At those times, I was constantly checking my watch and the Molson center times to see if it was the last part of the show and it wasn't most of the time! It just shows how I was so into the show!

The finale was incredible. That's what Smoke calls a finale! It had a decent length with tons of excitment. It was loud and colorful and builded up just the way I like it. The noise started to become fearsome with those lower level salutes and the multi breakers. Then those massive bright and colorful shells made it even more exciting! I kept yelling "DON'T STOP, DON'T STOP," frantically! It's like the whole of De Lorimier and Notre-Dame was screaming for more! It was unbelievable, especially after waiting almost 10 months and having that anti-climatic feeling last Saturday.

This was an excellent show. It seemed pretty much flawless to me and I feel that they're already contending to be a winner! My only criticism was probably for some slight redundancy in some areas, but this took nothing away from the overall concept and art. No narration made it enjoyable and a show often typically works better when there's less segments, since it tends to be crammed in when there's more. The excitement was really good, which made up for some slight pauses. As I said, there were times where it felt like a series of faux finales. The bottom effects were also enjoyable and I'm more than certain that excellent use was made of the lake, especially during bright moments and once again, with those red flare moments. Finally, I left the area with that feeling of delight, like the rest of the hundreds of thousands of people. Here's my overall ratings:

-Synchronization: 10/10------>It was flawless and worked so well with the music, while it made it enjoyable.
-Selected Color: 10/10------------->It was colorful, which made it dramatic. The effect correlated well, too, especially in variations.
-Creativity, concept and originality: 8/10----->lots of nice effects, particularly where it fell into different forms of "passion." Girandolas and heart shells were apparent for this, but some slight redundancy with other effects.
-Choice of music: 9/10---->pretty much because of the way it fitted in and the way it interacted with the main theme.
-Finale: 9/10----->Simply amazing. (I know it's not part of the criteria, but it's still the finishing touch for the display!) I'm hoping Pierre got it on camera.
-Overall rating: 9.2/10

In all, for me, it was the complete contrary of what I felt last week. Hot, hazy, humid and sticky conditions+fluid traffic+getting my good old spot and seing one heck of a display is Smoke's equation and idea of a good time. I had a great evening and I'm sure you all did, too.

I look foward to all of your comments later today!

Best regards,

Trav.

Trav, your comments and rating are very interesting, and I am agree with many of your observations. However, I believe that 10/10 is not an appropriate mark because you should keep a room for better displays!

I am going to write longer comments tomorrow but, tonight, I want to write that Groupe F has delivered an excellent performance. This display was another strong demonstration of the range of effects that pyrotechnicians can produce on La Ronde's site. I have some criticisms, for instance about integration of pyrotechnic acrobats... More tomorrow!

In conclusion, owing to the wind, we received a lot of powder, dust and fragments throughout the show. In the minutes following the finale, we were in the middle of a large cloud of smoke!

Good night!
Fred

Is very very good your review trav

jérome

Fred,

Yes, maybe 10/10 is a little over exagerated, but it honestly felt like that. Anyways, I look foward to reading your review, as well as Paul's, later today.

Jerome,

Thank you. I'm glad you like it. This is probably one of the longest I've ever written.

Perhaps you can share your thoughts with us, too. I would love to hear your comments in detail.

It truly was a fantastic evening and a great show. Trust me, for me to say it was good, it was good!

Pierre,

I'm hoping you got that finale on camera! And I look foward to your comments, as well.

Trav.

I totally agree with Smoke.

We witnessed a very beautiful classical display from this new French firm. Every segment was well done. The sky was packed with mini finales. It wasn't those casual fireworks. They knew how to excite the public. And as for the lower parts, I think we saw pretty much everything from Notre Dame because a lot of candles (if that's what you call) was used. This was also a quality material show.

One of the most interessing part of the show was the synchronization. It was near perfect!! However I personally didn't like the song selection.

And ahh the final, it left me trembling!

A very minor criticism: the "lower part" was overused.

Enkil,

I agree with you, too. The show was really interesting and unique in which it was prersented, particularly in the variations of pace and the way it was backed up by special effects and color.

I know everyone was whistling and screaming like crazy all across where we were during the ending. In fact, there were these sets of people jumping like hell with enthusiasm! I wanted to join in, but I just started screaming, as well. And you're right, they REALLY know how to excite the audience, especially with the small finales in between segments. If you read Paul's report, he lost control taking notes in one segment prior to the finale because it was that intense, so he simply wrote WOW, as he usually does. Reminded me of Spain in 2001! I'm sure everyone, including ourselves, were tembling and left with that feeling of delight.

As for the music, it wasn't my personal favorites, either but I enjoyed the soundtrack, nonetheless, since it worked well with the slow and quick paces in different segments and it had good beat.

It was really a near perfect display! Thank goodness that storm didn't make further progress!

Trav.

It is a commonly acknowledged fact that Montreal is a university for fireworks. The recruits from Groupe F demonstrated that they have all required abilities to justify their place in this competition and they deserve a very good mark.

In opposition with the australian display, the beat of the show was not interrupted by any narrative. Many segments have been designed to rise in a crescendo. I have seldom seen a display which successfully combine subtelty with several massive barrages of pieces, like the Groupe F’s one. With an addition of creativity, this should be a winning formula!

Group F used all available space. With 20 platforms, ramp 5 covered a large part of the lake and two performers on catamarans were near the public. It was especially true when the last segment began, a time when the performers with wheels of gerbs were very closed to the first two terraces in silver level. Some pieces were everywhere along the firing ramps. For instance, I counted approximately fifty gold fountains (50!) during the Mozart’s Requiem, and up to twenty flame-thrower during the beautiful third part. About the latter, I am not fully agree with Paul’s report ("single flames exactly on the notes" ). I believe that the designer’s intention was to do this but, in my opinion, it was not perfect. We have already seen better note-synchronized segments. However, it was interesting to see that the flames became higher and higher when the musical tempo was increasing.

I found the start of the fifth part a little bit boring, with this long sequence of single salutes. Furthermore, in the same part, I enjoyed the large shell-of-shells which filled the sky very quickly. This is one of my favorite effects!

I am fully agree with Paul’s minor criticisms about the repetition of some sequences, the limited range of effects and colors, and the lack of thematic to link the segments. Despite my positive response, I want to add three other minor points.

First, in addition to the limited range of effects and colors, I believe that the weakest component of the show was the music. The soundtrack was not really original and the quality was so-so. If being original in the choice of music is not easy, it is common in the framework of Montreal International Fireworks Contest to listen a soundtrack with more segments, which are carrefully extracted from complete musical pieces and well-mixed together. On this specific point, the australian display was better.

Second, I am a little bit disappointed about the use of the fifth ramp. My expectations were maybe too high. The fact is that from the first to the fifth part of the show, I had many difficulties in distinguishing the pieces fired from ramp 3 and ramp 5. And this morning, I was surprised to read that as much pieces were launched from these pantoons throughout the display. This is a question of perception, but mine was mixed. As we can read in Paul’s report, the 20 floating pontoons were arranged in a V shape facing away from the audience. My guess is that the effect would be better if all platforms were as closed to the audience as the closest platforms of this V. The larger is the distance between the third and fifth ramp, better should be the effect.

Finally, following the show of Groupe F and the opening show in 2004, I think about the insertion of pyrotechnic acrobats into displays produced at La Ronde. I believe that this innovation deserves a mention but last night, the contrast was spectacular between the large display and the small performers. Does La Ronde’s site is too large to create interesting effects with only one or two pyrotechnic acrobats? They really looked small on this large lake and below these giant fireworks. And I am not sure that the audience located in bronze and VIP sections (both limits of the terraces) could appreciate this component. I do not write that we should not insert performers again, but I would like to read your opinions about this point.

This show produced by Groupe F was definitely better than the australian one. Is it enough to go on the podium? It should, but seven other contestants are ahead!

Fred

Hey Fred.

A very thorough analysis, and comprehensive, too. It's always great to have a former judge share his thoughts with fellow enthusiasts!

Anyways, I really can't argue on my behalf since most of your points agree with most of mine. However, I really can't disagree on some of your criticisms, as I could not see things that you saw at La Ronde, like that acrobat performance or what goes on with different ramps.

I definitely agree with you on those shell of shells! They are one of my favorites, too! They always make an ending, or other segments, exciting.

The only thing I disagree with you and Paul is the thematic link. I thought it worked well with the display and was nicely demonstrated, but this comes down to personal taste and opinion. I know many people who felt the same way as me, while others didn't, I'm sure.

Finally, I definitely agree with the fact that France's show was better than that of Australia's. As I was telling Jerome, there's really no comparisson.

Regards,

Trav.

Hello Everyone!

First, I must say that Trav is becoming an excellent fireworks commentator He knows his terminology and makes it very interesting to read his comments! I wish I could write as well as he does and as everyone else does in here, but I don't really know the pyrotechnic terms since I am just an amateur......and my English is not sophisticated enough to explain in details what I saw and how I felt. Still, I love fireworks and being there on the bridge to view them, is so exciting! What is so much fun too, is to be able to share my thoughts with all of you, either before or after a display....it is an added pleasure to this Montreal Firework competition!!!

Last night with France's display, I felt like the new season had really started and stirred the usual feelings I get from watching fireworks. I feel sorry for last week's Australian team performance, as I am sure that they can do much better. I am sure that in the future, they will do much better and that they will learn from this year's experience.

Like all of you, I was glad that the thunderstorms that were expected to hit Montreal, stayed away for good. With last evening's performance, France did not need any help from the lightnings! On the bridge, I was hoping for some breeze coming from the St.Lawrence River to help me cope with the heat and humidity, but the wind had died completely There were much more people on the bridge this time, certainly due to the end of the school year, start of Summer vacation and higher temperatures....although I would personally not miss a display for weather related reasons. Cold, hot, snowy, rainy, windy, I don't care, I will NOT miss one single display just because the weather is not behaving!

The fireworks literally started with a "BANG"! Anyone who might have been sleeping prior to 10pm, certainly got their "wake up call"

You are so right Trav.......I was very happy last night! The intensity of the first minutes was so exciting and was promising for the next 30 minutes to come. There was another really nice segment of the display, that made me scream of pure delight....it was just a little before 10:20 (that was the time on my watch, but I should check with the Molson clock next time, so that we all know when exactly.....thanks Trav, for this excellent idea).....and that specific segment was definitely very intense with shells breaking everywhere, filling up the sky!

I think it was shortly after, when they used the Girandolas.....thanks for the term, Trav........are those the ones that look like UFOs, going up and down? And you are right Trav.....one did stray from the center and went directly towards us on the bridge and the reaction from the public was immediate.....they all pointed out to the "stray" girandola and we were all very amused by it!

Oh, and the finale..........when I realised that it had just started, I could see the intensity increasing by the second and I held my screams of pure delight as much as I could, and my heart was pumping like mad. A bunch of salutes here and a bunch of salutes there and I started to shake, as the people around me started to scream..........all that while, both of my arms were held high towards the sky.......do you know why Trav? Yes, yes....you guessed right!!! ;-) I was holding my digital camera to capture every single second of it and to immortalize this exciting finale! LOL And now, I have it on my computer Since I have no way of converting the file to one that could be shared in here with all of you, I will keep all the finales until the end of the competition, and then, I will send them to Paul, so he can share it with all of you!

I can really understand why you were screaming "Don't stop", Trav! I felt the exact same way, being deprived from a firework's finale for so many months. It is almost cruel to think that we have to wait for almost a full year before we get to see another international firework competition. Now, the new season has just started and I am SOOOOO happy that we have 8 more displays to enjoy!

Now, I just can't wait for next Saturday, when Argentina shows us their savoir-faire!

Have a great week everyone!

Pierre

Pierre,

First off, thank you for your kind remarks.

It's great to hear your comments and I'm glad we saw and felt the same way about the entire display. To be honest, I thought you disppeared on me again! Really, from what I read in your post, you were as enthusiasic as I was throughout the display! And yes, it definitely gave a wake up call to sleepers!

Well, I'm still pretty much limited on my fireworks terminology and those terms were only part of the small selection I know. i still consider myself as an amateur, but that doesn't take away your hobby! I'm still trying to learn them all, but I'm glad that I was of assistance to you with the girandola concept. Actually, I think its full term is a double-ascension girandola, as I understand it. I'm glad that you noticed that stray one, too! It was kind of amusing!

Anyways, the moment I saw salutes, my thoughts turned to you. I just said, in my mind, that "Pierre must be going nuts like I am!" And yes, it was a nice display after experiencing last week's show. But, like you said, everyone learns from their mistakes. Anyways, yes, last night's warm temperatures and excellent display was a stimulation to what we've been missing for 10 months. This display also had mini finales, so I couldn't complain. The audience could say the same. You could also tell the huge applause from last night to that of last weeks'.

The weather did cooperate, though there was a development overhead to the West at about 8:45 P.M, but that fizzled out with the loss of daytime heating. I was pretty much weather watching all day yesterday because the airmass was so moist and "juicy!" In fact, I was so sure that something would happen once I saw some cumulus build up at around 1:00.

Back to the display, it did, indeed, start and end with a "bang." It was so well done, despite intensity.

As for the finale, I'M SO HAPPY TO HEAR YOU GOT IT ON TAPE!!!! The moment it started and saw how things were going, I'm just saying to myself, "please let Pierre capture it! Once again, I'm so happy that you got it. Like last year's display finales, I guess you'll save them on your computer and then share them with us at the end. That's the best idea anyone can come up with. Thank you so much. Think of last night's ending as a replacement of IPON's last year, that you missed. Although, I hate to tell you, IPON's was better than what we saw last night.

And don't worry about your English. It was good enough and clear!

I hope to hear from you even before next week's display! If not, you have a great week, as well.

Regards,

Trav.

Pierre,

How do you record? I mean do you look at the screen or you watch the sky and let it record?

I'd like to record some if I ever get a camera. But I don't want to watch the screen in front of me during the show. You see, I'll have to make sure to catch all the action by moving the camera and watching the screen. Doesn't it distract you?

Hi Enkil,


To answer your question, when the finale starts, I just press on the button and then, I hold the camera right in front of me, with my arms stretched as far from me as I can! That way, I still can see the screen, but I watch the sky at all times, because I wouldn't want to miss a thing......and I have no intention to watch fireworks from the screen of my digital camera....it loses all its beauty and intensity. I just make sure that the camera is focused on the fireworks and that the display is right in the center of the screen.....so I do glance at the screen once in a while, just to make sure. It does distract me, but just for a split second....and it does prevent me from jumping or screaming, since that would show on the video! As you will find out later this Summer, I successfully recorded France's finale, and the display is centered.....but I am visibly shaking and that's too bad.....all due to my excitement and the fact that it is hard to hold a camera away from you without moving! I am sure that if you buy a digital camera and start recording finales, you will not regret it! It does have minor inconveniences to record during a finale, but it is worth it in the end! I guess Paul feels the same way while he is writing notes, although he has a lot more to do than I have.....writing notes is more time consuming than holding a camera in front of you!

Have a great week, Enkil!

I'll get back to you tomorrow, Trav!

Pierre

Hey Pierre,

Don't worry, it's no big rush. I was just thinking about something that might help you out. To avoid shaking, you could place your camera on a tripod. This way you can zoom in and focus on the site while you enjoy the display and while it will be still. Just a tip that might help you out. After all, I also want you to get the most out of each show, especially a good finale!

As Enkil said, it's a great idea to what you're doing. I've been proposing it, myself, since 2003, but never got down to it.

Anyways, if you still didn't read my previous post, I'm happy that you managed to capture it! Good job! Lets hope we continue getting exciting ones like this, or even better in the next displays.

I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Regards,

Trav.