Her voice in love songs didn't disturb me that much but I agree that on Love again her voice is very well much better but it's also true that in lives her voice seems so strained per moment despite taking vocal lessons ... It's quite sad :/

Her vocals are imo just fine. Way better than they were from 2006 to 2009.

I am also sad as well
People used to look forward to her shows and it's really sad that A BEST Tour has problems with people attending it. I mean those ARE the songs that people ASKED for
What's wrong with this picture
And what's so controversial with her dating Maro and breaking up with him
It's not that she had some public sex or whatever... GRR and now i am pissed

Yes but this period coincides with the one which she became deaf :/ Her voice is better now but I find her vocal tense lol

i really think ayumi should take a hiatus and try to find "herself" again, come out with a distinct style of music. ive noticed for the past few years that ayu is just releasing music for the sake of being an active singer. she should have a small hiatus and come back with a single that really reflects her emotions and is a very strong song.

part of the reason that could be lowering her ticket sales is because she keeps singing her old classics which everybody has heard, as recently she has no new songs that could be considered a classic so she keeps hanging onto her old works because they were the most popular

She should forget about Japan for now and try something worldwide.

Reinventing doesn't need to be outrageous, and it doesn't mean going plain either. She could do so many things that people aren't doing atm, choose a new image, a new inspiration source, a new theme that speaks for itself...

The thing is, everything's been done already, if you look at some of the current successful artists, most of them are repeating what's been done and make it a bit different to seem like it is "fresh".

ayu is been relying on her image for over a decade, changing small things at times and changing everything at times too. But in the last few years she's been a bit monotonous.

Okay, Party Queen. Great theme, but portrayed very poorly. First of all, let's say that not having promoting singles was a positive thing because she could have had an album with a proper theme without loose songs flying around. The real problem was that it was just very poorly executed. She appeared wearing a very cute dress giving interviews for the album, and every time the back drop was PQ's cover, it was so contradictory, even though she tried to explain herself, people didn't seem to fall for it. Also, mutating HOTEL Love songs into Hotel PQ songs was a bit messy too, and it feels like that tour dragged on for. ever.

She's deaf since dome tour 01. But her disease is the kind that generates periods of crises and periods that gets stagnated. I don't know how to explain it in a good way in English. Anyway, maybe this period (06-09) was a time she was in a bad crises of her illness. I think the problems in her vocals are these ups and downs her illness causes.

You are right ^^ It's obvious that something happened between early 2007 and talkin' 2 myself ! Her voice during the promotion of A BEST II was normal but for the promotion of talkin' 2 myself her voice was so deep and different !

Deep sadness.
I'd never have imagined she would have problems with tours, of all things, where she's always done greatly. And to say she has to change formulas may be true, but I think this time the key problem is this supposed "scandals": HLS did just fine last year, didn't it?

^To be fair, she is having a ton of arena dates by normal jpop standarts... She could cut a few dates, sell out everything and still have longer tours than most.

or change her team. She needs to remember that dancers and staffs are working for her. They will leave her alone if ayu or avex or both cannot pay for them.

Also, look at the products for this tour. If I bought the booklet, I would question myself like "Am I supporting ayu or her whole team? I like ayu but not everyone working with ayu."

I hope people understand my point.

^^
I thought I might have been a problem of too many dates too...

I think this is kinda to be expected for what the show is. Its a BEST live...
so I dont think generally people would want to go to tht ore then once because its really just a rehash.
She should have done something more epic for her 15 anny

Maybe she needs to spice things up a bit to draw in ticket sales.

How many times has she sung M in a wedding dress with female dancers dancing behind her??? Why not try something different? She can dress in a slim fitting female version tuxedo, complete with a fake moustache, while Shuya wears a wedding dress dances around, and at the end down on his knees crying and begging for Ayu to marry him...

And the cutesy segment really REALLY needs a makeover, no more school uniform please... in CDL is all right, but a regular tour??? Why not do a space version with everyone wearing futuristic space uniform? The dancers can wear fish bowls on their heads too, and can dance midair in wires... Ayu can be a space captain or something like that...

Been reading twitter about the lives last weekend, and apparently her vocals were not good at all - she couldnt sing any high notes, especially M.

That seems to be the reason an encore song was cut - everyone is sad about that.

Good! I hope this is a wake up call for her and everyone else. "Wake Me Up" indeed. It can only push and challenge her.

Over all, this anniversary has been kind of a dud.

She needs to left that DIVA image, she needs to keep her private life just for her, she could contact new people and start again promoting like anyone else (Like Koda or Mika).
Her music is good, she is always triying new things like ANOTHER SONG, Sparkle, Sexy Little Things.

LOL, can't stop picturing this M performance in my head, it's just so funny.

I'm ok with her dancers and her band, I really thing she should keep them. I think she should just change the way she's doing things, like many of you said before, when a song starts, we all know what's going to happen, how she'll sing it, when she'll hit high notes, when she'll scream. She should change this aspect of things, to wow everyone again.

And btw

http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/6417/38588429.jpg

What's there to wake up from ??? :irked She was just not feeling well :innocent

She's always been having this many tour dates, I think. A BEST LIVE currently has 28 shows, HLS last year started out with 27 before expanding into the fall with 34 shows in total. Also, since it's the big 15th, it won't have made sense for her to cut down on dates..

I guess what went wrong is probably what everyone's already talking about... The scandals, the rehashed performances, the general lack of fresh material.. Even the tour goods this time seemed half-heartedly done with a used-before theme. The only thing that saved it (for me) was the tour visual (she looks gorgeous there), and even that doesn't make me want to purchase any of the goods.

But I don't agree with the idea that she should do away with the dancers and her team (at least the on-stage people). She's been pushing them to the forefront for years now, and it's evident that quite a few of them have become fan favs. I dare say that some fans attend concerts to watch their fav dancers as much as to watch ayu. Just take a look at any photo on the A BEST TOUR blog. Almost half of the handmade uchiwas the fans are holding bear dancer/performance team member names. They may only be back-up dancers, but they do have a substantial fanbase, and getting rid of them is simply not a wise option. For another example, anyone remember the huge outcry that happened when Subaru pulled out of PoM tour for personal reasons? He made a comeback in the next tour much to many fans' pleasure (my own included haha), and one really does wonder why he would return unless it was due to fan demand.

I haven't purchased any of the goods either, I just don't like them... and I don't like the pamphlet at all.

The dancers shouldn't go away, but they should stop gaining so much spotlight, it's okay if they appear on the big screen and fans scream for them for a while, but sometimes it's just too much for the dancers and not enough ayu :shrug I like her dancers, but I don't want them all over ayu all the time.

same here. but i agree, it's quite not right to get rid all of them. Some dancers had stick with ayu since the very beginning like dome tour (kayano, midori) and the band-members , including yo-chan and enrique, were there for her since she debut. They all had become a family to her, and everyone looks like they're trying their best, only maro and her messed things up. ayu should really re-consider her choices for A BEST LIVE. what kind of big 15th anni. is that if the tour dates won't even last until fall?!

I know she had longer tours on the past... I believe she still has to beat AT10 numbers... But 28 dates on arenas, what means +-280,000 sits still is HUGE to jpop standarts, considering it's not a big country... Not to bash la Koda, but if I remember it right, even with the "queen of live" thing she never really had the same tour going through this number of dates (someone correct me if I'm wrong). I can't think of any female soloist but Namie and maybe Yuming having tours this with a similar attendance nowadays.

If she toured for 25 dates for example, it would STILL be huge and probably sold out. This is what I meant.

About things needing to be huge because it's her anniversary... She is basically reminding the public she is old news, being it huge or small... Once she makes her 20th, 30th, 40th anni we can start talking about classic and things get better. :P

Maybe ayu and avex didn't foresee that this would happen, guess it's time their formula wear off I think. She could use this as an input on creating a new touring formula, new artistic direction, new musical direction or new scheduling/planning, I hope :)

I also agree about the dancers, even though they're like family to Ayu, I don't think they should have the same spotlight as her. I know she's being generous and such but still. And now that she has a large number of people in the stage, things got a bit confusing for me when I watched her tour on DVD. Maybe they can feature the troupe on screen more during the live while they could focus on Ayu when they edit the footage for physical release?

she might not have any more dates planned yet because she has something in the works.
Most shows are pretty packed, so thats a good thing...
it seems to me the most people complaining about it are ones that are not going and just seeing pictures.
Also when you sing live, you have off days... not every concert will sound perfect.

THIS.They all are as Ayu says herself a part of a show and a part of "Ayumi Hamasaki". Fans got used to them and have their own favorites. They became a huge family and friends. So it's all not just about making money, but also making memories together. Fans wouldn't appreaciate if someone dissapeared. Even i wouldn't. I mean if Yo-chan would be gone, what's left of the epic guitar intros in the concerts? ._.

and i never really got a problem with dancers. most of her concerts have plenty of Ayu there, i really don't see what other see in that departament *shrugs* maybe less Shu-ya poping out of nowhere and flailing cuz i dn't really understand that as dancing lol but i guess people in Japan like him, so i really don't care xD

As I listen to fans' reaction at the concerts I can tell that Shuya, Subaru and Jin always receive loudest cheers.

Wow! and I was so happy to see that every single seat at Osaka concerts was taken...Maybe they had to give away some of the tickets to achieve that... :-((

Just read the TA entry and while it doesn't really say so, it is probably the ticket sales that she didn't add more dates. But are the October dates not a "newer" thing anyway? Didn't she start doing those later dates only a few years ago?

If we're looking for reasons of Ayu's declining draw in, most of them have been described quite correctly, I guess. I have never personally attended an Ayu concert, but I wish I could turn back time and visit her Dome Concert, A Museum, TA club tour or My Story Tour. Those are the concerts I keep going back to and they are 10 years old! I'm not interested in her newer stuff for numerous reasons.... I feel sorry for her, but she made some bad decisions in the past that now come back to haunt her. My interest in Ayu is waning for some years now. I always thought it was just a slump, but I have to admit, I'm just not as excited about her activities as I was before and I doubt it will get better. I feel sad that I'm obviously not the only one who lost interest....but I know Ayu has very devoted fans who'll stay with her no matter what, and that's nice to know.

I went to the last CDL and they did have tickets at the reseller shops up until the very last night, which was a bit odd I guess but I dunno if that happens all the time. Apart from that fans were as happy and cheerful as always, I just loved being surrounded by so much love and support then.

I have had ayufan friends who moved on and like other things now, they still love and respect ayu but they don't follow her anymore, for years now. So I guess it just happens when some people stop liking or following something or someone.

Thanks for clarifying things a bit btw, the thing is we can mostly assume what's happening, we don't know the facts, even though people keep bringing up things as facts all the time, which is quite annoying.

I don't appreciate that Gomi is gone. He was my absolute favorite dancer, hands down. :(

^Gomi gone for a better cause I guess, he said he moved to his hometown to contribute to people more there after the tsunami if I'm not mistaken. So if Ayu held him for her own it wouldn't be nice imo

Just noticed this and its been awhile since this has changed
I think thats close to 200 more than it was last time

Most users ever online was 922, 11th May 2013 at 05:18 AM.

But I think its just there's nothing really new/exciting in this tour to make people really wow, unlike when she had her 10th

Yeah... Remember when we had all those server constraints in the past whenever Ayu brings up something new, causing "AHS is temporarily unavailable"? All this lack of exciting things are really keeping things quiet here...

Maybe if you write more clearly, we would be able to take your sayings into consideration...

Well, let's face it, since we pay to go, the concerts aren't for Ayu and Ayu alone...XD They're for us as well! And if you saw it, and you didn't really liked some things, you can say it, if you're respectful saying it.
What I don't understand are people whom didn't see anything at all and judge all of this tour not a big deal. Even if, with all this problems selling tickets, maybe they're right too.

^ It's not because you pay that an artist should make what you want in a concert. Ayu isn't that kind of pseudo-artist who only make what people want to make money. She's a Real Artist who sings with passion & not for money.

^
If you read carefully, you can see that's not what I'm saying. I'm not saying she has to change what she does, but that people are entitled to not liking it and complain about it and talk about how it'd be better in their opinion.
And, honestly, when I do something, I like when people make real observations, not just generic ones like "oh, nice", but ones which truly inspire me and make me realize how to improve. She always struck me like the kind of person whom holds dear others' opinion, and, as fans, I think we owe her our real opinion, to inspire her to do what we think it'll be best next time, not to change her.

^your first sentence wasn't accurate enough. Sorry, I misunderstood. >.<

^
Doooon't worry, my fault for not explaining well! XD

Correction she sings with passion for money, it's her career and she would never perform a free concert even if TA demanded it.

can somebody post like for the article that says ayu concert tickets aren't selling very well

Her Secret Lives for happy Xmas shows were free :P

actually everytime she performs live on TV or some music show = Free

just sayin.

For the Christmas Shows she was paid by those producing the show, so she still wasn't showing up for free. For TV and music shows it's not concert length and they count as promo for the albums, same as photo shoots and magazine interviews, for which she makes millions, so none of it is free. Just Sayin.

While I do have respect for Ayu as a independent woman who will fight to have her vision seen if she feels passionately, but I don't think that she completely rules out how commercially successful something will be. I don't think that money is the bottom line for her, but I don't think that she doesn't care about money at all. I think Ayu likes her glam lifestyle.

I seem to recall reading in some interview Ayu said if she lost everything she'd be perfectly happy living an ordinary life...

That's hard to actually do after being rich. Plus she's said in the last few years she's let her pride make too many decisions for her. And if you look at her likes section on facebook, it clears up any question about her happiness with an ordinary life. Plus most statements she makes for fans to read are usually conforming to the image she's setting, so it's very difficult to know how much honesty slips into interviews, it certainly isn't in abundance like most fans think it is.

Sadly she isn't performing on TV like before, now if we have 4 performances in one year is a lot.

If that is true, I think she meant if something were to happen to cause her to lose everything. I don't think she would do that to herself on purpose.

she has to stop the tours, stop living in her protected walls, focus on smaller venues, more interaction with people in the public, get closer to the people, appear in live music fashion entertainment events, attend more radio shows, be the fashion leader for her age group, mix it up and get more exposure slowly, and stop relying just on the facebook and twitter. go back to the basics. =) that is if she wants to carry on her music career. the fire in her is diminishing.

You will not blame her because she likes live in wealth ... Before she debutes she was rather poor ! She has all rights to appreciate the money she has earn like everybody who are in the same situation but it's just my opinion !

lol facts are all artists are doing what they are doing because 1)they love whet they're doing and 2)they get money for what they love doing. Who wouldn't want a job that pays you well and you enjoy it? it's just natural. I'm sure everything she does has a money factor because she belongs to a label that handles her expences when it comes to new material, but it's kind of strange to were things are going now to think that it's all driven by money, cuz it hardly looks like what she does now makes her or avex a fortune - failing tour, not the best sales in CD departament, weird marketing strategies, almost 0 promotion.. :eyebrow

Who cares if she likes her own money or not? I like my own money too. I would like more of it. I like other people's money. I want people to give me more money. Do I need to go on?

I know, but he was still my favourite. And I never got to see him live. T_T We went to his bar in Shibuya on a Wednesday night but it was closed. Next time we're going on a Friday or a Saturday for sure!

this :yes

This forum is just too much sometimes, omg I can't believe the stuff I read sometimes. Ayu is a product, why would you expect her to do a concert for free? Her music, CDs, performances have to be funded through profit and revenue from somewhere.

^
Emh... But nobody said that! o_O There was a discussion about how much Ayu values money, nothing more. No one wants her to perform for free, I think.

[QUOTE=Earth_maiden;3007294]Who cares if she likes her own money or not? I like my own money too. I would like more of it. I like other people's money. I want people to give me more money. Do I need to go on?

THIS! lol

I was talking to my mom [who really loves Ayu too] about the possibility of a world tour and how much it would cost to host a concert like hers here in Brazil [where I live] and maybe it wouldn't be possible to do it, since a lot of people here can't afford to buy expensive tickets. So my mom said a very interesting thing [imo], that if her concert was a little more simple, maybe it would be easier to do a world tour.

Ayu is now used to this kind of big concerts, I can't really imagine her going out on a tour ou doing a cdl where she will do a more acoustic thing, like she and her band, no that many special effects or changing costumes, just Ayu and her beautiful voice, singing her beautiful songs on a little stage, close to all her fans.
I think it would be different and interesting, but I don't see it happening.

Well, Ayumi couldn't sell out an Arena here in Brazil (or anywhere out of Asia), so, it would be a Hall tour, and it would be simple... VERY basic props and focus on her, dancers and band. No effects...

Madonna performed one date of her MDNA Tour in a Hall, and it still was a complex performance even if she couldn't use her usual stage. Ayumi also had her T.A. Limited Tour that was basically her singing with her band and two dancers back in 2003.

About the tickets... How much are hers costing in USD?

Yeah, I'd be happy it was similar to the TA tour - just her and the band. That would be enough for me.

So cool that your mum likes Ayu too!

mi|kshake~

a perfect example - GACKT. He also has these grandioze tours with visuals costumes video footage and u name it, but when he did his first european tour he went totaly simple just him, one stage costume, band and music in a club like venues that fill up to 1000 people. And it worked! He was SOLD OUT in minutes. It's possible for Ayu,too, but i don't think it's gonna happen, she's not that kind of artist...

I guess people never watched T.A. Limited Tour...

I've never watched, but I know it was in 2003 and we all know that Ayu changed SO much since then. In 2003 she was still "new" in music industry and her concerts in the beggining of the career are much more simple than they are now.

Are you serious? Is this simple for you?



Ayu was new in 1998. In 2003 she was already BIG

^in 2003 she was already past her peak :P

Dome Tour, Stadium Tour, Arena Tour 2002 and A-museum were anything but small... actually,they most likely are her most expensive shows ever.

In USD her tickets are between $80-$120 depending on the rate of exchange at the time, maybe even higher than that since it was $120 when I went in 2010. Triple that from resellers.

So... anything between +- R$170~R$250... It's not cheap, but not THAT expensive either... Someone who buy her releases has enough money to buy a ticket.

I think, comparing with what she does today, it's simple. I'm not saying its simple in all ways, but I think today her concerts are bigger than before. And I also think that even being a huge success, wich she was and still is, 5 years in music business it's still new.

I think most of Ayu fans would find a way to buy it, but it's not an inviting price for people that don't know her too well and maybe it wouldn't sell out all the seats.

in 2002 she filled up whole stadiums, I whouldn´t call this simple xD
And as it was postet before she always had amazing stage things like the world ball in DT01.
I can totally see her doing a club Tour like Gackt in Europe.
And I don´t know how expensive usal Gackt tickets are in japan, but here his tour costed 30€ what is not that much, it´s normal prive here for venus that hold 500-1000 ppl.

^GACKT is pretty darn expensive in Japan when he does tours, it can go up to $300 depending on the ticket type. BUt yeah when he was in Europe i think we spent like 55€ ? or somethign like that i can't remember now.. He had like 6 concerts? i think...in 5 coutries.

I had seen videos of performances of her one of the mosts simple tours I asume that was a T.A. live someone is talkign about here(?), where she was basicly alone on stage with band dressed in this punkish outfit. So she can pull those off, but i don't think she would try that these days.

@ayu-butterfly

She would have no problem selling 1k~2k tickets over here... maybe even a little more. There's no way she would do a concert much bigger than that.

@artcika
If she tours out of Asia, it's going to be small. There's no possible way for her to hold an world tour in Arenas.

^ that i do get very well, there's no possible way for her to pull arena tour abroad, it would end up in a failure. And frankly, i would rather have this more intimate setting, it's so much more appealing to me, like u don't need binoculars to actually see her on stage haha~

I though once that maybe this tour was very simple cuz it make things easier for a world tour...

Kylie Minogue has a very small fandom over here in Brazil, when her KylieX2008 came, she performed a VERY simplified version of it on a venue with capacity of 6,938. I could see Ayu doing something like that (on a even smaller venue), and AT13 would be perfect for something like that.

A world tour by Ayu would be such an amazing thing, I think nobody would complain about a basic show and a ticket a bit expensive. After all, it would be kind of a once in a lifetime opportunity!

Apparently she did TA Private Live in 2003 and that was in a small hall. It was more fun.

It's sad that this tour didn't sell so well :(
By the pictures I can't really judge, but it seems pretty similar to what she has done before, so maybe people don't feel like going over and over again? I always had the feeling that there are a lot of fans that go several times to her concerts every year, so maybe this time people don't feel like going more than once? And then who went told their friends that it's not a 'must see' concert and less people were motivated to go, differently than if they love it and want to go again and convince their friends that they must watch that concert too, I guess those kind of things are a huge factor for gathering more audience.
And maybe some expected her to extend her tour like she usually does and thought about going later, but now she won't extend the tour, which is understandable if the tickets are not selling well...


That's a really reasonable price imo, considering that her tours are quite huge and expensive.

i don't know why people are saying her new tour is flopping bc there's no proof

I would say that tickets not selling out and she deciding not to extend the tour like she usually does is the proof...

Question is how much it's not selling out per show. If they do not cancel shows it probably means they are still very profitable (still a success) for the shows that were already scheduled.

ummm people are INSANE. ayu was never "big"

still there's no proof

I don't mind that actually...means I have a shot at getting some nice seats for some July shows~

Wow cool

^omg how dare you! lol

anyway...I don't think ayu cares about money too much. I'm sure she enjoys it as anyone would...but it's not that serious.

Stop this nonsense touring and release a new ballad already!

^A ballad during summer? I don't think so :/

Unless it were coupled with something like glitter / fated

A Sunrise/Sunset or glitter/fated-kind of a single is welcome too, of course. I crown Ayu the queen of ballads so I always want more of those from her.

^True.

Man I keep wondering how much I'm gonna have to pay for concert tickets. Knowing me, I'll want the best seats I can get...haha.

Her tux costume looks like it was bought at Party City

have you been to any of her other concert ??

^Nope, never. So I'm pretty excited. I just wish the set list was better.

I wouldn't say flopping. Let's say there's evidence of problems, which she never seriously had with tours I think. Not official evidence, of course, but if they really had troubles selling tickets and filling arenas, I highly doubt they'd go boast about it anyway!XD

Where are we getting this info from? I'll judge for myself when I go. It could be all rumors.

^
I hope so!XD
There was an article about unsold tickets, and that they were desperate to fill arenas, and then came the decision of not extending the tour like she usually did, which may hint at a bad situation.
It's really all speculation, but, again, I don't think Avex would go and make an announcement for bad news like that, if true.

I heard that kuu isn't selling out her last few shows as well. Are people less interested in them or is it that artists that aren't really popular can't do many lives in Japan anymore?

OT sorry, but when are kumis shows? Is there a website?

http://rhythmzone.net/koda/event/index.html
(4 dates are left for her and overall she has 16 shows)

It seems though they are not really in a bad state anyway.

Thanks. Ugh, I just can't win! Maybe next year