Philippines
PIPC
2018
Having arrived back from a truly amazing time in the Philippines it’s now time to reflect on what we have achieved. Three wins in the same competition, 2016, 2017 + 2018 to give us the ‘Grand Slam’ this is something that has not been done before and we are extremely proud of what we have achieved.
The planning and preparation for this show started mid-2017, where the design phase of the show started, after the deaths of, Nils, Joe and David, we went with the theme ‘Angels’ to honour those who had dearly parted the Pyrotechnic community. The music choices were carefully selected around the theme and were stitched together to make the soundtrack for the basis of the show design. After many months designing the show, we could finally place the order for the product required. After booking the flights and submitting the show design and theme to Platinum fireworks, the show folders were next to be prepared with the module/cue sheets and stickers along with the digital back-ups of the show and the mortar layout for the site. The total number of cues for the show topped out at just under 4000 and the total number of mortar racks used was 926! these ranged from 3” up to 8”.
"The total number of cues for the show topped out at just under 4000 and the total number of mortar racks used was 926!"
The Setup
"We fired second on the night after Yung Feng who put on a fantastic colourful show that got a great reaction from the crowd."
Once we arrived in the Philippines, we were warmly welcomed by Platinum Fireworks who took us to our hotel for the duration of our stay. Once unpacked and showered we went straight out to watch the two teams competing that evening (Pandora-Pyrotechnie and Alessi Fuochi Artificiali) after the shows we then went to our HQ ‘The Roadhouse’ for a few beers and to discuss the plan of action for the week. The mortars on the barges were all ready and in position for us and the product was there and waiting for us to start the task of setting up. During set up the weather was in the mid to late 30’s throughout the week so it made a pleasant change for us as before we left the UK we were currently getting a beating from the “Beast from the East”. The set up took us a total of 5 days with 24 crew, 4 from Pyrotex and 20 from Platinum. We even had chance to double-check our work the day before show day to eradicate any issues/wrong products/angles etc.
"The set up took us a total of 5 days with 24 crew"
On show day the nerves and tension were high, and the crowd were sceptical on what we could pull off with us being the reigning champs. We fired second on the night after Yung Feng who put on a fantastic colourful show that got a great reaction from the crowd. Our show was a little bit different from what we normally do and had a hidden twist, which surprised both the audience and the judges, a Double Finale. Once the first finale had finished the crowd were cheering away but couldn’t understand why there was a heartbeat sound pounding from the speakers, 4 seconds after the last shell fired, our second finale kicked in with just the sound from the mortars being launched from the barge followed by the soundtrack kicking in again. Over 2000 shells alone were used in the second finale which was unbelievable to witness first hand. Once the second finale finished the crowd went berserk and we got a standing ovation from the judges. Plenty of beer was drank at HQ that night.
"Over 2000 shells alone were used in the second finale which was unbelievable to witness first hand."
The next day we then went and had a mini break, one of us went to Dubai and the other three to Boracay for a week before returning to the Philippines the following weekend for the final two shows and the results. Once we had arrived back we went and watched the last two shows before nervously waiting for the results. We came in first place joined with Germany (Steffes-Ollig Feuerwerke) Tied on points. We came away with the title 9th Philippine International Pyromusical Competition Grand Champions 2018” and were accoladed with the title of ‘Grand Slam’ due to us winning it three times in a row.
We would like to thank Platinum Fireworks and the SM Mall Of Asia for their hard work on putting on such a magnificent event and we would like to thank the platinum crew on the barges for all their hard work. I would also like to personally thank my crew who I could not have achieved this without them.
The Show
