After being involved with the Rush in Rio Vapour Trails Tour, Pyrotek Special Effects was consulted to brighten up a number of songs for their present tour. Long time lighting designer, and agent, Howard Ungerleider approached pyrotechnician John Arrowsmith to come up with a number of special effects.
With a focus for a concussion effect to emphasise a specific moment in their newest hit single Far Cry, the requested effect was to synchronise upon the completion of the course. Arrowsmith collaborated with Doug Adams (designer & president of Pyrotek Special Effects) to design an element to the theme which ends with a big punctuation.
During production rehearsals at the Hershey Centre (Mississauga, Ontario Canada), Adams' design was demoed for the band. Describing his effect for Far Cry, Adams explained, "It felt natural to follow with the sparking sequence and end with a concussion on the final impact". Far Cry includes 18 one-second gerbs in a chasing effect, and 18 25ft silver comets with tail along with a concussion effect.
Ungerleider uses High End Systems, Catalyst for a number of video montages throughout the show. Additionally, the Pinnacle Digital Video Effects Machine used by the video crew produces crossfades and created a perfect integration between video, pyro and music for the titled song One Little Victory. The collaborating pyrotechnic effect takes place in the middle of the song where an animated dragon exhales a breath of fire towards stage right. Eight dragon heads and three fire balls are utilised during this sequence. At this particular moment of the video, a fireball cue creates an exciting effect as the synchronised media resembles a breath of fire shooting from the video out onto the stage.
Long time pyrotechnician John Arrowsmith, has the responsibility of bringing Adams designs forward to every show, and to accomplish the effects of specific cues. Furthermore, he coordinates safety measures and mandatory walkthroughs with demonstrations for the local fire marshals at every show. A number of effects such as, gerb chases, fireballs, and columns of dragon flames are seen in several acts from the 26-set song list.
(Jim Evans)
