Ooh! Aah!


I've been to see the fireworks display up at Alexandra Palace for the last few years, and mostly been fairly underwhelmed by the experience. Partly this is due to it being too damn busy, and last year I was on a date with somebody I really shouldn't have been dating, but there's also something about fireworks that is inherently underwhelming. The other day I did indeed utter the words "once you've seen one set of fireworks, you've seen them all". The only exceptions to this rule I can think of are the Paris millennium celebrations - whose centrepiece was the fully illuminated Eiffel Tower - and the Beijing opening ceremony ones, which I didn't even see. Doh.

Ally Pally certainly doesn't have millions of pounds to throw around for these displays, especially this year, and its old radio mast is not really a match for the old Tour Eiffel. Still, maybe it was down to low expectations, but I really enjoyed this year's extravaganza - and I didn't even stay out for the band, a tribute act called Queen On Fire (ah if only they meant that literally. In fact, shouldn't they be called Queen Featuring Paul Rodgers On Fire these days?). The pyrotechnics were as plentiful and well-choreographed as ever, and they did a better than ever job this year of synching them as closely as possible with the musical accompaniment. And although I'm no expert on classical music, I can tell you that the tunes included that one what Mickey Mouse dances with all them brooms to in Fantasia, the one off the HSBC advert, the one off that other advert for a product I can't quite remember offhand, and the one they use in The X Factor*, all of which provide a vivid aural backdrop to the pleasing whizz-bangs, flashes, pops, etc. There you go, almost feels like you were there watching, doesn't it?

*Actually, I know that one is Carmina Burana by Carl Orff, though don't ask me why.

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