I have not seen live fireworks since the NFA Expo (I missed the Pyro U shoot in St. Louis). That is almost two months with no pyro. I am really starting to miss it. I was just thinking the other night about my first summer of fireworks. I had three "WOW" moments that summer which still live in my mind.
The first was my first night of fireworks. Growing up in Iowa, seeing "the good stuff" was pretty rare. We went down to Missouri and picked up fireworks a couple times when I was a kid, but a cheap multi-shot was the best I ever saw. My first day at Spirit of '76 I got to see an impromptu fireworks show staring the Brothers' classic Major Combat. I had no idea so much firepower could be packed into one cake! It was an $800 fireworks show in a (at that time) $100 retail package. Amazing!
That summer, we shot off a lot of cakes at our tent. All of it was more than necessary as product research. The one that always stood out to me was Blue Blitz. It is the first 'Z' cake I remember seeing, with great blue and green colors. Now I prefer Wicked Cool and Combat Zone, but that cake was my favorite for two years.
The last thing I remember is the finale on July 4th. The staff gathered at the tent for a fireworks show that night, firing off single pieces between customers. The show stopper that night was a case of Yeah Baby Yeah spread out over 30 or 40 yards. Watching the cakes build from 1 shot, to 2 shots, up and up and up... it was an intense experience. The 28-shot finale was huge!
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