started watching this, why is the music SO loud during Duty? You could barely hear her voice,. The visuals on the screen are amazing tho

After listening to the whole show again (audio only) at work, I like it even more than I did originally, despite the sucky vocals. There are still parts and songs on the setlist I don’t like, but I would definitely buy the dvd if they can do a decent job and not CDL2015-16 it.

BRILLANTE japanese creepy style is so much more magical than the original creepy style

I thought laundry machine was the only joke.
However, we have something else to laugh at in 2019. Thank u, ayu.

https://i.imgur.com/idf2Lfa.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/SbaoLy1.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/6hToOaI.jpg

Because of this my (German) friend and I laughed so hard at the concert. We were like wtf? O.O :laugh

Calvin Klein started this construction workers collection trend few years ago.

I noticed this too! It was a nice touch.:yes

I watched the concert - thank you guys for posting the link. It's the first live broadcast I've watched in full from Ayu.

I'll get the negative stuff out of the way first which was the lack of the band and Ayu's vocals. I would say a live band is a must for me (although to be fair I got used to Namie not having a band) and Ayu especially as I've become attached to the members over the years. I always get a little worried that when her band isn't there that this is the start of them appearing less and less even if I don't think this is going to be the case!

The vocals weren't great and she relied on a lot of backing track. I do wonder if this is going be how she is going to sound going forward. I get it as she's never been known for her vocals in the first place, probably doesn't have a good technique, has been touring for the best part of 20 years and you have her hearing issues to add to that! I hope her vocals can improve on the next tour though.

Onto the positives!

I loved the choir, taiko drums and string section. I wasn't a fan of the drums when she's used them in the past but they worked so well here especially in Brillante Speaking of, I'm always chuffed when she performs Brillante as I always figured it would be a song she would perform once and that's it.

The choir sounded so good in Walking Proud! I'd definitely be up for album of re-recorded songs.

The setlist was great and I thought she sounded best on Bold & Delicious and Born To Be (has she ever performed these songs together before?) What a combo! Although I would like to see her do the original version of B&D again, I did really enjoy the new arrangement this time round.

I loved Yongae!

I was getting a bit tired of the Lelio/XOXO medley so the Sparkle/NaNaNa/etc medley sounded great! (Although they do drag Sparkle out a bit for my liking)

The show just looked great in general. I thought the dancers had some better choreography too.

So bring on the upcoming tour!

^Her dancers really are getting better choreography latelu! About the vocals, she most likely was sick or tired, as she sounded way better on the first date, so I don't think this is how she will sound from now on when she is healthy.

And the B&D + Btb... combo was used before on both POMs

you know I'm wondering if the 4.6 show that I attended was the exception and if all these torturing vocals are the norm now...

^ Don't worry it's not the norm, the shows I attended in 2016 weren't that great in terms of vocals because of the screaming but it was okay, however the shows I attended in 2018 had really great vocals.

She screamed less in those?

Honestly yes. BRILLANTE in 2016 was ruined vocally by a lot of screaming but BRILLANTE in 2018 was great!

Cool! My best live Ayu experiences probably were "part of Me" acoustic version from CDL 2013-2014 and "HAPPY ENDING" from Arena Tour 2015. 2 super rare cases when she didn't scream.

The show I went in Nakano Sunplaza in February, her vocals were AMAZING. I was completely shocked of how good she sounded in every single song. And I think it was my favorite concert of her (I've been to 7 in total).

About the construction outfits I was shocked when I came to Tokyo and saw all this young guys wearing it. It's definitely the trend now. As someone pointed, Calvin Klein is doing it and also all the fast fashion brands released their version.

Sounds too good to be true :-P Did you record audio of any song?

I've seen Ayu 5 times over the years, and honestly I've never been to a performance that her vocals were not good. In order of best to worst, I think I would rate them:

1 - TA 2015 (Birthday Date). She struggled a tiny bit with the high notes in Unite and maybe Heartplace was a little scream-y, but that was all.
2 - PoM 2018 (Fukuoka). Her vocals were great the entire show, and I can't think of a single song that sounded forced or like she was struggling.
3 - TA 2016 (Day Before Finale). Strong vocals again, but her voice was a little thinner on the acapella of Teddy Bear. She also relied on backing track a lot for this tour.
4 - TA 2016 (Finale). Not much change from the day before, but a little bit worse.
5 - CDL 04-05 (Day Before NYE). Her vocals were good here, but I think she lipsynced Duty and M pretty obviously (the sound levels were completely different). Her pitch was really good in this show, and overall I have no complaints...but she was sort of in a transitional phase of her voice where she was moving into her deeper register, but wasn't quite there yet. So while I love songs like Carols, I think they have a unique vocal quality to them that I can't quite compare to after this time when her voice settled in a deeper place.

^ Interesting how people hear the same things but have different opinions. :) I went to the exact same TA 2016 date and thought the vocals were just okay.

You are right about CDL 04-05 - It's one of my favorite countdown lives, but she did lip sync at least Duty and M. She is lip synching to the exact same recording that she used at the Asia Song festival for M.

I would have to say her best vocals that I saw live were in 2005 and 2006. 2007 had a sharp decline and since then I adjusted my expectations. Though she seems to have some random great years at times since then; 2010 and 2015 really stick out as being very vocally strong.