This evening's concert was again in Maisonneuve, and featured Ranee Lee with special guest Oliver Jones, who is now officially retired, but played several tunes for his special friend. The concert was quite enjoyable, and as with last night's Pat Metheny concert, at a very comfortable volume!
Afterwards we migrated to the Hyatt for a few drinks, and lo and behold, Ranee Lee and her musicians sat down next to us. Martin went up and introduced himself, and Ranee came and had a few words with us. A nice and unexpected moment.
Then it was back to the hotel to watch the fireworks. Montreal holds an International Fireworks Competition in June and July each year, starting in 1985. The event is held on Ile Sainte Helene, an island in the St. Lawrence River. The island was one of two (the other being Ile Notre Dame, built with excavated material from the subway) housing Expo 67.
The fireworks have a musical accompaniment, which we could not hear in our hotel. Although I note that a radio station is one of the sponsors, so I presume that it would broadcast the musical component. Too late now! We "reserved" the breakfast room on the top floor of the hotel, however the view from my room was almost as good, and allowed me to find a location to stabilise the camera for the long exposures required.
The fireworks are coming from the far side of the Jacques Cartier Bridge, which is sort of visible in some of the photos. The building with the two red dots on the top is the CBC building, and the one with the square sort of bright light is the Moulson Brewery clock.
Hotel-Dieu de Montreal
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