I must say that this song is one of my favourite performances of the show. I got so excited when the song intro started :-))
She sang it really, really good on 08/11, but on 08/12 she was out of tune the whole song, so it's not fair to say that she sang it flawlessly during both shows in Fukuoka.

I don't know how to word my response..
I love appears. It's definitely in my top 20 songs of all time.
The reason why I don't like how ayu sings it now is kinda complicated.

Trying to make a long story short: i believe that the song should only be sung in ayu's old, nasally, immature voice. the song as a whole is not supposed to be sung by the ayu of today.
I liked all the other songs, even if they were recorded with a bad mic. appears is just... I've been through so much and i relate to the song SO much and ayu changing the fundamentals of the song is just... Well, it ISNT her fault though. She couldn't control the direction her voice went to. people mature, and so do their voices. The arrangement is alright, though. AND at least some of the midsection was untouched.

If ayu should do ANYTHING, its make a sequel to appears. Something of a continuation with her current voice. Im here for that. I'm not here for her butchering the song with her current voice.

^ I'd hate to see your reaction to the 4/8 recording of "appears"... or have you heard that one? It was kind of like a replay of Mirrorcle World at Kouhaku '08 when I saw it live... Yeah, Ayu messed up a bit every now and then, but still. lol.

Australians don't live far apart from each other and Australia is only a 9hr flight from Melbourne to Tokyo. And Iv guess you never seen the citys now a days. They are basically made up of Asian's now a days along with other cultures, with ayumi stuff not that hard to find in the city's, if you know where to look :P Australia also has a tie to Japan going back ages. The town I live's sister city is Takasago

Who cares if she messed up singing a song. She's allowed to, especially touring and performing over and over.

Actually Asian music is booming here in North America. People are starting to grow tired of the same old and want something new. In fact there are some K-Pop and Japanese artists touring here in the US right now and are really gaining a following and getting noticed. So Ayu can really tap into that. Its not thàt she can't, she never tried. Look at all the other successful forgien artists who've been successful going international, Ayu could be amongst them.

Korean pop is mostly produced by European and American producers so it's not really anything new and the same goes for many jpop artists, at least the ones doing mainstream stuff. I don't think any of them will ever become really famous world wide while they are singing in their native languages. Yes some may succeed in having a single smash hit, but that's prolly as far is it will go.

I completely agree with this. I was just thinking that the reason certain k-pop/j-pop songs are popular is because they sound like western pop. Just in a different language lol. Which is why Ayu still wouldn't do well over here, I think. I couldn't imagine her songs becoming hits.

not really, not to mention 2NE1 & BIG BANG adding dates almoust eveyrday here and there...

Who's going tomorrow?
:D
I'll be there, so as SunshineSlayer.

I'm going on the 11th xD

I really hope she sings one or more of the songs from LOVE...

too bad there's no Ustream for this concert =(

You could say that "Sparkle" would have a chance at being a hit...
But I'm glad that her music isn't mainstream. Even the first three party queen songs weren't mainstream. Party Queen (song) sounded like 80s synth gold.

Kind of why I detest K-pop for the most part: it's just western music with korean lyrics. I'm not sure if thats the universal case, but I don't care for it THAT much to actually want to look into 'real' Korean music, not 'stolen western tunes'. I think I'm gonna stop. This is neither the place nor the time to rant about Kpop.

^^ maybe for the last day??

^ If there were a UStream, something would have been announced by now. They've always announced those type of things early.

I'm not surprised there wasn't one for this concert, though. Yes, I attended it and I loved it, but it's not like POWER of MUSIC - that was one definitely worth UStream-ing (both for the cause and the concert itself). The CDL kind of was worth UStream-ing as well, just because we got to see the original HLS, what Ayu originally planned for AT11. This one? Well, it's kind of a new version of HLS, since it's promoting both Party Queen and Love Songs. We got to see the original live, but now we get to wait for the rehash on DVD/blu-ray.

I'm hoping that there is a somewhat new setlist tonight and that she performs at least one of the songs off the upcoming mini album.

Grrrrr ayugame....
Just read your review, make me envy you.

Hahahhahaha

Where is my crots paper? LOL
Were you alone in the concert?if so who took your pic?

You dnt have any pic with international ayu fans there?
Or maybe with japanese fans?

Song 4 you must be there in the encore.

Er what part of Australia do you live in? We DO live far apart from each other, we're a freaking huge country and it's not the easiest thing to simply just travel interstate for a concert. 10% of Melbourne's population is Chinese and even then some really popular Taiwanese and HK singers have a hard time selling out concerts or only do the one date in a small venue.

For someone like ayumi to come here she wouldn't sacrifice her stage and show. She would also need a fanbase and if she were going to start anywhere it'd be America.

Wait why are we even talking about this? She hasn't even shown any inkling towards wanting to branch outside of Asia, and even then she hasn't been active outside of Japan for a few years now (aside from work related trips for photoshoots).

Well they have a sub stage set up here at to yogi and all three new songs playing outside. Should be some changes to the show. Ayu running late as usual. :)

Argh at her running late! :P

I hope you enjoy it SunshineSlayer!! And hopefully she hasn't drastically changed much, I loved the show as it was and want that on DVD! (^_^)

http://i.imgur.com/RtPsu.jpg
@Evan凡 weibo

shes late to be on the stage?i thought that she always appear on the stage according to the schedule planned?

I think they might have started late due to the hall not fully packed yet. Usually concerts starts when the hall is almost packed so that the audience doesn't miss the show.

There is no area with no seats in ayu's concerts??

No, there isn't, but people tend to stand up from their seats during the songs and sit down again during interludes.

Holy crap! Kiss o kill!

YES!!!!!! OMFG

that makes sense then :yes


OMG!!! Kiss 'o' Kill is back??? really it is back??? awesomeness!!

OMFG KISS O' KILL?!?!?! :thud PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep it for the final show!!!

Kiss o kill replaced return road. Waiting for encore now. She also already performed song for u and missing. Moon was replaced.

^did she wear lighting dress for kiss o kill?

ok im happy for that! but heyyyyyyyy! Return Road? come on we need that in the DVD version :thud

No Return Road?!?!?! like seriously???

I can't believe there's no return road..., still it wasn't final today, was it? When's the final show?

^tomorrow

Today three new songs are sing!! Good fun ....

Let's hope for Return Road then, I can't imagine the concert without it, a pity it's not streamed this time :V

Omg kiss o' kill?!??! Why not Return Road lol...
Song 4 u and Missing!!! OH YEAHHH

We got to hear all three new songs tonight. She did Melody as a first song in the encore.

^

yaay! for Melody! so how was it for the 3 songs live?

what is the full setlist then?

coolness.
I wonder what songs are going to be on the DVD... most likely everything in the final show?
hope kiss o kill is there and the three new songs...
But I wish i would have heard Moon

Okay~
A review from me. It's really messy and such, I'm quite tired. So, beware!

Tonight was the firt time I saw this tour... But I have read and seen other reviews from earlier dates so I could fogure out what was changes and so on.

All three new songs was performed. Niiice.

Song 4 you was performed right after Happening Here, her wearing that blue two piece outfit. Thumbs up for this song.

Missing was performed after appears, in a gorgeous pink dress. Thumbs up for this song.

Melody was the first song in the encore. I have no idea how this goes like. Still.

Overall tonight the volume was high, I'm pretty much deaf on my right ear (pointing towards the stage). Lol. Othervice the show was... Alright. This is my 12th time seeing Ayu live and this is my (by far) least favourite concert so far. It's not that it's bad, I guess her other concerts have been so superior before. But then again, the only songs I enjoy from Party Queen (the album) is Tell me why and reminds me. Now, this might be me.

The concert was a bit too messy for me. Messy and almost too conceptional. Like, my favourite time on this concert was when she did her oldies (appears, evolution~SURREAL~evolution). Also that dance show's music remix that got played was awesome. I HATE remixes, pretty much always, but this one I really really enjoyed. It was nice to hear those ollder songs too, even if it was really short.

Overall she looked gorg on stage and overall her voice was good. Sometimes she sounded a bit off but that's pretty much all. There was no MC tonight (well, "it" was a one-two minute long thanks speach) and Timmy was all over the place.

I think I enjoyed Missing and the encore parts the most. Because it was like Ayu, on stage, singing to her fans. All the other parts was like Ayu-dancers-band-Timmy jumping, screaming all over the stage in the same time as their clothes glitters and have multiple colouring.

At the "Shake It" part I felt utterly confuced. Indeed the outfit looks better IRL, but it does still look like something a five-year old would wear. In the same time Ayu did gave off this sexy vibe while wearing that. Also the song itself is quite messy and the performande was really cutesy. After it ended I simply thought "where did my mind go? What was that?".

kiss o' kill was great! It was like a warrior princess version of the Return Road dress. The shining heart on the front that changed colour was still there but the skirt was short. It was actually a nice modification of it.

I think, that's all, for now. :)

The setlist... I think... looked like this... Correct me anyone if I'm wrong. My memory is quite fuzzy.

01. Happening Here
02. Song 4 you
-------------
03. Tell me why
04. reminds me
-------------
05. appears
06. Missing
-------------
07. Shake It
08. STEP you
-------------
09. NaNaNa
10. Sparkle
-------------
11. the next LOVE
12. Eyes, Smoke, Magic
-------------
13. kiss o' kill
-------------
15. Ladies Night
16. Party queen
17. SURREAL~evolution~SURREAL
18. Love song

ENCORE

E01. Melody
E02. Boys & Girls
E03. how beautiful you are

Oh no..please bring back Return Road!

^^ Yep, I agree with pretty much everything Elin said. Also, yes, that set list is correct. Party Queen just hasn't stuck with me much as an album over the course of the year.
Kiss O' Kill was the biggest surprise of the night and the only time during the show that she used the side stage at Yoyogi. I was surprised to see Return Road out. I saw this tour back in May and that was treated like one of the main performances of the set list. I was expecting it to come on after Kiss O' Kill, but it never came.

A Song for U was good. Missing, I liked but I feel like it needs to grow on me a bit. Melody unfortunately was easily forgettable. The only thing I remember about it was Yoshio had a nice guitar solo towards the end. Missing and Melody are both mid-tempo ballads but Melody is a little softer. It kind of reminded me of Meaning of Love in that it is just kind of "there" and easy to skip over.

Oh btw, the show didn't start late because of the audience. The doors were supposed to open at 5:30, but for some reason they were not opened until 6:00. The show was scheduled to start at 6:30 but was probably more around 6:45.

Thanks for the review. It doesn't sound that exiting. I'm also one of those who aren't fond of the PQ album, so I think this tour - while I love the theme - won't make me happy and I'm kind of glad I didn't go to a concert this year. All the things I don't enjoy about Ayu atm seem to feature heavily in this concert.

Maybe it reflects better her current feelings towards the marriage and the divorce...^^

No You & Me? =(

KISS'O'KILL?!?! Ohhh!!!! What did she wear for that? Was it the same dress at Return Road or something else? Wow, that is a surprise!

And I'm wondering why reminds me and Tell me why were switched around... who knows, they could have been like that for a while, I just remember reminds me being right before Tell me why at the 4/7 and 4/8 shows! At least neither of them were cut!

And I'm happy she premiered all three new songs :) I had a feeling the covers would be revealed at these two shows, but I didn't realize she would sing all three songs! I figured Song 4 U might be, but I'm happy she premiered all of them :)

Thanks for the reviews/updates!!!

At least it was Kiss o' Kill replacing Return Road. Had it been a song like my names WOMEN or 1 LOVE or another song we've had countless boring performances of..omg drama.

Oh dang, so she removed Return Road! I wonder if they'll at least stick a cut of it on the BD/DVD? Then again, she took out a lot of tracks for POWER of MUSIC before putting them all back in for the finale.

^ let's just hope Return Road returns tomorrow

Can she just please shove RR, call and letter into the perf tomorrow? I would love live audio of those songs!

Hopefully that's what happens. vogue/Far away/SEASONS got shoved into the POWER of MUSIC finale after all. Please, Ayuuu~

Someone tweet her, haha.

I wondered about that myself actually.

Also, polka dot, you are right. Those songs were switched around. People were wondering what's going on when tell me why started.

any new photos yet?

I hope she brings back Return Road today, that's my only wish. :)

the most attractive part for me this year is the return road part and the LED dress...i really hope that she will sing the song for the last concert! btw, i was surprise too that she sang Song 4 U! one of the best song ever ~ ^^

aLL THRE e dates I went 2 you could guarantee that queeeeeeeeeeen ayumi would be at least 15-20 minutes late like CloKCK Work! :thud

edit: shame looks like Return Road won't make the cut for the DVDD but at least i'm so lucky I GOT to see it live xoxo

haha the Queen xDD

sad that Return Road didnt make it to the finale :(

but anyway saw this pic on FB!!!

http://imageshack.us/a/img141/753/53...5063217488.jpg

coolnessss!!!!! :luv2:luv2

just got home

song 4 u and missing were sang but they weren't the full songs. song 4 u was only the first verse and chorus, missing probably wasn't sang in full, I think it was missing the second chorus.

instead of melody, Ayu came out in her costume that she wore to the Kishidan event (the yankee costume) and then surprised everyone by singing One Night Carnival, then Kishidan came out and sang too!

It was really fun!

Also not sure if this had been mentioned... but during sparkle, ayu didn't sit at all. this might have changed awhile ago, but my image was still her sitting at the table with Timmy and such. It was much better with her standing and dancing this time :)

also during nanana or sparkle, i forget which one, ayu kissed 2yan on the cheek after he kinda of pretended to kiss/lick her face? lol. it was funny.

^ you beat me (._.)

Kishidan came up on stage?? Argh I would soooo want to sing One Night Carnival with them!!

original 「One Night Carnival」

cool and interesting!
thanks for the pv and picture!!

http://i.imgur.com/OQz8o.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/WicAh.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/mhniJ.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/h0CD5.jpg

http://mantan-web.jp/2012/10/11/2012...00087000c.html

wow that's so good and ayu looks so amazing there

Finally it's ended...
i really sad that Return Road didn't make it to the finale

and Kishidan is really suprising!

i just hope that this year tour will have documentary, i love it, and i believe there will be explanation about this

Saw that this was the setlist of the finale (from FB)

ayumi hamasaki ARENA TOUR 2012 A ～HOTEL Love songs～
会場：国立代々木競技場第一体育館 2012/10/11

1.Happening here
2.Song 4 u
3.Tell me why
4.reminds me
5.appears
6.Missing
7.Shake it
8.STEP you
9.NaNaNa
10.Sparkle
11.the next LOVE
12.Eyes,Smoke,Magic
13.kiss o’ kill
14.Ladies Night
15.Party queen
16.SURREAL～evolution～SURREAL
17.Love song
——————————-
18.One Night Carnival（with 氣志團）
19.Boys & Girls
20.how beautiful you are
21.Thank U

wtf, she added Thank U!!! amazing :D

No reminds me? No Return Road? This is the final which means it is on the DVD, right? Well, at least it looks like a fun setlist! I suppose she's done moping over her divorce :laugh

Oh wait there's reminds me right there! I can't wait then!!!!! It is definitely my favorite PQ track!

The setlist is the worst since a looooong time , lets see how it turns out.

i still cant get over that return Road is not in the setlist :thud

yes documentary, the last time we got was in 2007 and some making of in 2010, and hope they will include other songs that was performed like RR, call and letter, these need to be seen!

Thank U is a much better concert-ender than HBYA (which I'm not really a fan of!)

mi|kshake~

Hoping to see return road in the DVD as a bonus ~ i cant accept that there is not return road for the final concert ><:no

I don't like Thank U =(

Actually that is good tracklist. 8 songs that she never sing before + appears and kiss o kill + interesting song with Kishidan

I like that setlist !

Are we gonna get HQ pictures soon ? I want to see those outfits !

for the kiss o' kill, is ayu wearing the same long led dress ? i remember that the pic shows that her lower part of the dress will glow~

I'll always take kiss o’ kill over Return Road! I'm glad she performed the new songs too an kept the musical segment!

Ayu looks great. I haven't really been as excited for this concert for some reason, maybe because it didn't seem too new or different (from CDL)
I hope Return Road makes it into this year's CDL. It could be so epic live!

Congrats to those who made it to the tour. The last set list sounds like it will make an interesting DVD/Blu-Ray, especially with all the setting through songs while the dancers go everywhere being changed.

What is with Return Road though? I get that with any song of hers there are those that love it, hate it and just listen to it because it's part of her cd. But what does performing it or not have to do with her feelings on divorce? Other than the poorly thought out idea of putting the pic in the video, she said it had nothing to do with Virgin Road and when asked directly about songs written to or about Mannie she said there hasn't been any.

everyone wants to see her performace of it because it's such a grand song (musically) and how we're told it's performed. we got a feel in CDL what the HLS tour was going to be like, but not Return Road. I myself am very curious and hope it'll be on the DVD.

The concert was amazing last night, I was there as well...

Her voice was almost perfect. Of course a few spots where she went off the pitch, but overall it was great.

After HBYA, she paused, and started talking into the microphone about how she was thankful for everyone she met along the tour, and all of her staffs... and I seriously thought she was going to say that she was retiring after her 15th anniversary, it was that serious... because she was starting crying... I was so nervous ahaha.

And she did "Arigatou gozaimashita" without microphone!

Yes! I've missed her doing that and was thinking about it the other day. I think it was such a lovely way to finish a concert :love

The DVD will probably have the return road and reminds me performance as bonus like PoM had the bonus songs so no big deal.

It's a new version of the RR dress. The heart that changes colour is still there but the skirt is short. And she added some details to make it more warrior princess-ish. It was actually a really nice alternation imo. :)

news report pics
http://ww1.sinaimg.cn/large/4b034f65tw1dxs5midgkdj.jpg
http://ww2.sinaimg.cn/mw690/4b034f65tw1dxs5mgi73wj.jpg
http://ww1.sinaimg.cn/large/4b034f65tw1dxs5mf3lytj.jpg
http://ww1.sinaimg.cn/large/4b034f65tw1dxs5mdkbfwj.jpg

Im so glad this tour is over.

I wonder what she plans for next year?

I wasn't directing the question to me, I was directing the question to those in the thread who do believe every word she says. I don't consider anything from Party Queen a show stopper or even an expression of the talent I know she has. I was wondering why people think the setlist changes based on her mood about a subject I think the fans think more about than she does. The setlists change frequently through every tour and the final shows are usually different from the rest of the tour in some way. And when new material is being released soon, of course something will be replaced by new songs.
The only change that would be shocking is if a new song replaced SURREAL-EVOLUTION-SURREAL as the japanese fans expect that to be there if they buy a ticket, just like I expect it to be on every concert disc I purchase.

ah i disappointed there is no Return Road for the finale tour. because that's the song that i like the most from Party Queen album. too bad~~~~

15th anniversary tour, probably.

pics from different news
can't wait to see the video >_<
http://i.imgur.com/nBlCR.jpg http://i.imgur.com/4XsUO.jpg http://i.imgur.com/6kEqV.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/IUNv0.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/tIbbr.jpg

She looks stunning during Missing!!!

Soooo gorgeous :love

I think the One Night Carnival ayupan will be the secret one. :D

http://www.yinyuetai.com/video/526745

Stunning. Video from the live. Dang, and the footage is from the HD cameras they use for the tour usually.. OHOHOHO. Also she is nailing Missing live.

Her One Night Carnival voice is so very 1995-Ayu, haha.

ÔMG I HEAR MISSING LIVE?!?! so amazing!!

She sounds very good :D

It looks like so much fun :love

http://i.imgur.com/ksHer.jpg
http://www.sendspace.com/file/i1atf0


I was wrong, that's not only Mezamashi
http://i.imgur.com/Ug5Fk.jpg
http://www.sendspace.com/file/bxocvm