Just bought my tickets for 9/1! I still never got around to watching the NEXT LEVEL Tour DVD (seen clips only) so it will be interesting to see it for the first time in 3D. Followed by the EPICNESS of AT10... Can't go wrong there!!

DCでそういう行事が行えばいいのになぁ・・

I just read that as 'what a teat!!!'

:tipsy

Yes SHOWING IN DC would be GREATTTtttTTt!! :))

Anyone know a decent but cheap place to stay in L.A.?
I will be staying Wednesday August 29th-Saturday, September 1st (Leaving Sunday, September 2nd so a 4 night stay).

The thing is, is that I had a $200 plane ticket voucher to use by September 2nd and was pretty much obligated to go somewhere or lose out on this money. So my flight total was $300, leaving me to pitch in $100 cash. As I mentioned my boss had told me he thought it would be nice if I could enjoy a longer vacation so he offered to "cover" the cost of a 4th night. To then which he said "I will give you $100" - well I come in to work a few days later and he had left me only $80. Still nice of him, but not really enough to "cover" my expenses for a whole extra day.

Now I have spent $100 on a plane, $40 on the theater tickets, $66 to see trance DJ Armin van Buuren play on Thursday night, $30 to see trance DJs W&W play on Friday, night... for a total of $236. But there is also cost of food, cost of alcohol at the clubs the DJs will be playing, transport (bus and taxi)... I tried to set a total budget for myself of $580, which leaves ~$343... and out of that I have to book my hotel as well.

I have been reading reviews and looking at hotels for the past few hours. I thought I had one picked out before I booked my hotel but now when I think about it, it is kind of a ways to travel from the clubs the DJs will be playing at later at night and I don't want to be arriving to a shady hotel at those hours. If anyone has any suggestions, even if it's something along the lines of "well I know this one looks/sounds bad but take my advice, it is not as bad as it's made out to be" to put me at ease, I would very much appreciate it!!

My trip is kind of turning into a financial nightmare...

I'll look forward to the show though!

THIS IS BIG NEWS! HOLY CRAP!!

Ayu showing in the US! @w@ So excited for everyone that can attend!!

Isn't one of the biggest Chinatown / Little Tokyo outside of Asia in California anyway? Would make sense they start there to see the attendance number...

BUT THIS IS GREAT 8D !!


@Zeke. Ever thought to look on www.couchsurfing.org/ ?? Maybe you can crash at someone's place 8D I've never tried it personally so I can't say but I've heard a few friends mention it and they all had good experiences.

^ Cool, thanks! I will look into it!

I'm 95% sure I'm going! I just gotta get the final OK on having Labor Day off. And I got the days wrong, so I'll only be able to see A3DII, which I wanted to see more anyway. (Though, it would have been cool to see ARENA TOUR 2009 live, on DVD, and in theatres!)

To help you out a bit Zeke, I've always been lucky enough to stay with my Aunt and Uncle whenever I travel to LA, and I'll be doing the same during this trip... As far as helping you with transit, have you ever thought about using the train system? I've never used it, but perhaps that would help your cost a bit (I saw you mention taxis and I know those are a bit pricey). Also, are you willing to stay at hostels? I found a few decently-priced ones, but I'm not sure the location of your shows and I saw you say you'd rather stay a bit close to those venues.

Just found out I can't go because I don't have a ride (and I live 2 hours from LA!). So sad, I was really looking forward to it. :(

I was looking into some "hostel" type places as they appeared on the search when looking for a hotel. Some good reviews, but many warn of bed bugs, which I do not want to bring back home with me. I also read in one posting of how someone saw a guy pull a knife on someone else right near the hotel. L.A. just seems like a rough town to just travel to alone and to be going out drinking, alone, and finding transport on a train, alone... I mean, I went to Japan bymyself and ended up in a room across the desk of another man who handed me a price chart for the amount of time I could spend with the women he had pictures of and I felt much safer their than I do about the idea of staying in an unsafe area in L.A., lol.

My friend is actually one of the organizers of this event and she said it's selling pretty dismally...

Apparently most people who bought tickets are in the tech industry and are interested in the visual effects etc more than in Ayu herself..

How about we all try to help promote this event via our Facebooks/Twitters etc? Haha

I will be going to both showings on Sunday 9/2 so it would be fun to meet any of you who are attending as well!

The theater isn't that big though so they shouldn't be expecting too many people...

Also, I feel like some people just haven't ordered yet. I know a few people who haven't purchased tickets yet due to money issues.

Just bought my ticket for the NEXT LEVEL concert on 9/2! Can't wait! :D

I would totally go in a heartbeat if I didnt have a family reunion/vacation lined up already...ARGH!

Just want to say thanks again for this recommendation! I now have an accepted couch surfing request and will be staying with someone for the duration of my trip!

If anyone has yet to buy tickets, they are 20% off here!

http://www.us-utopia.com/store/user/category/la/1

Apparently, you need to be a member of the Japanese Lighthouse USA magazine for this?

Maybe check out Choicehotel.com and see what you can find?? :) Hope this helps somewhat,My parents travel alot...
Good luck!
Edit: ffffffff.....Sorry,Didn't read it completely. but still leaving this here just in case; Sorry about that!

I think my comprehension skills went down the drain when all this information was released, haha. I didn't realize both films were playing each day. I thought AT09 was on Saturday, and AT10 was on Sunday! I just bought my plane tickets, and I'll be arriving Sunday morning. And I convinced my aunt to go, yay! I wonder if she'll want to go to both... I need to talk to her about that, haha. I'm so excited!! Less than a week at this point :D

US people are so lucky! Have a great time everybody!^^

The day after my birthday, I think I might go as I know the area... :)

Will have coverage of tomorrow when I see both screenings, ahhh~ so excited.

^ Have fun!

I'll be going to so yay! Can't wait to go. I wonder what kind of gifts they will give out? So exited! :)

The gift is supposedly some Ayu tattoo seals (aka temporary tattoos) but they could have added more... maybe?

^
Thanks for letting me know! :) I'll be running a bit late. I'll be going to both Next Level, and Rock'N'Roll Circus, so I don't think I'll miss miss much of Next Level since I own it on DVD, (but not 3D).

everyone have fun today!! I can't wait to go to the screenings tomorrow!! I'm so glad I'll be able to go to both now!

Just got out awhile ago. I enjoyed watching both concert movies a lot, but I wish their we're more people. The theater wasn't really that packed as I thought it should have been... Anyways I loved Rock'n'Roll Circus a lot more then Next Level. I wish they would of never took out Rainy Day. :(

Edit: Also I think whoever else lives near or in Los Angeles should go to tomorrows screening (If they still have the tickets at the doors) even if they have seen the concert or own the DVDs. It's a really cool experience to see one of your favorite Asian artist in a movie theater in the US. :)

I liked them too~ the 3D effect was really crazy for A3D while for A3DII it was a lot more subtle.

There were some major angle changes for all of the songs in A3DII though.

I would have also liked more people to have been there (a lot at A3D may have been there due to the awards and accolades) especially at A3DII but it is what it is. No one sat in the front because those were horrible seats but for the first showing, the seats were respectably taken with a few holes here and there on the sides and a few empty rows. Maybe a little over 1/3 capacity for the first one with a little under 1/3 for the second.

Got a TON of tattoo seals. One of my friends got like 5 of them. Also had paper tickets and a free poster!

http://i.imgur.com/rp2A0.png

http://i.imgur.com/InW8H.png

To be fair, it IS Doctor Who night. Maybe more people will come tomorrow. :P Maybe word of mouth about how the showing was tonight will help too? I dunno. I wanna be optimistic.

Well, it was by no means packed (the front = deserted) but it was respectable for A3D. A lot of people who saw A3D didn't stay for A3DII which is weird...

Apparently some people got to go for free due to being in the 'media industry'?

It was so much fun going today. The downtown Independent is a small venue and the crowd was more on the small side but still a good amount people people came I think. I do hope there is a bigger turn out for tomorrow. (Though I did thoroughly enjoy the non crowdedness.) The 3D for AT09 was pretty superb compared to 3D movies that come out now-a-days. For AT10, maybe my eyes got immune to the 3D-ness after watching the first concert movie but it wasn't as noticeable, but very enjoyable. I think I liked it more than AT09. Seeing both was so completely worth it! I even got to take a couple unused ticket stubs for souvenirs (asked for them). Probably should have grabbed a poster too since they where handing them out but those ticket stubs where a must have to put with my concert ticket collect. Lol

Aw I didn't get any ticket stubs :( But it was a really good time, I was moving in my chair nonstop the whole time. Lol.

I did all the ZIN dances (MY ALL / Sweet Season)... now if only RED LINE was in there somewhere.

Sounds cool ^^ despite there were few people. I hope today will be more people so they maybe do it again somewhere :)

Got here early for the Sunday showings. Came from Phoenix! The people who are putting on the show aren't here yet, the theater employees seem a bit confused. Fingers crossed everyone shows up!

Waiting for the 3 P.M. screening to begin. I'm excited! :)

I think they were still setting up at that time~

Enjoy the show, guys!

I think most of the media people came to A3DII though, as the "reserved" seats were pretty empty for A3D but they filled up for A3DII.

I wish they were doing this in more cities here around the country. like; Minneapolis, Chicago, New York, etc. I don't have the funds to travel to L.A. it's awesome that they are showing them there and introducing Ayu to more people. but they should do it in more cities.

NOSCO is based in LA, I think, so it's likeliest that they're going to continue to be in Los Angeles unless interest is reaalllly high for other US cities.

The woman said something about it being a test. A test leading to what, I do not know...

Yeah, I was gonna ask them about the reasoning for doing this since it was so random but I didn't have time to, plus I was a bit drained after 3+ hours of sitting in the theater.