The concert started so suddenly it was insane. tasky began playing and the buildup was so good. To my surprise GREEN was soooo well-done, though it was a rather midtempo song to pump my fists in the air. Ayu sounded really good here and I actually loved the white dress. It was so shiny and glorious which photos cant really portray. I love the rearrangement esp the bridge, and im not sure if its 100% the same as the MADE IN TOKYO one but I guess so.
FLOWER was nervewrecking. I wanted her to deliver esp after hearing fancams, where she is heard shouting but actually, she sang so amazingly!! It was in fact well-controlled vocals and wasnt as chaotic as I thought hahah! I was so happy, somehow despite the fierceness it wasnt a fist-pumping song either but it was nice.
WARNING was energetic on so many levels. Same as MIT.
Then it was the midpiece where a birds eye view of a street was shown. Her acrobatics team then walked vertically on the curtain-screen as though the audience was viewing from the top! It was really cool, i even thought it was fake. Then the angle turned and it was a eye-level view. Ayu rose from below and she looked amazing (once again, unlike what was captured on camera).
rainy day was majestic. When she hit the bridge perfectly, PERFECTLY, my heartstrings were pulled. That was when, her voice shone so much! The verses were kinda...weird in some ways because she used the airy vocal technique but it sounded like she lost her voice (and i thought she was sick until she let it all go at the bridge). Beautiful performance and possibly pushed the song much higher on my favs list. The dancers performed with umbrellas and I found the choreography to be pretty genius. As there was no spotlight on them, my attention was 90% on Ayu, unlike sometimes when theres just too much going on stage.
MOON was pretty nice.
After MOON, there was scene underwater played on screen. Her acrobatics team was going up and down in the water as though they wre swimming and falling underwater. It felt really real and cool to watch. Beautiful imageries too. Lastly the monkeygod saved one of the dancers who was drowning and they performed a swirling stunt, while the screen had water-swirling effects so it was really as though they were dancing underwater.
Summer time. INSPIRE took place in the classic desert. Loved how the dancers appeared in silouette first then there was a very K-pop/R&B Dance off before the song. She was shoutingg a bit on this but generally still alright. Great to hear one of the first few songs that made me a fan :)
The medley was sooooooooooo fun! Felt like an a-nation back there haha!
Moving on, it was the Nothingness Chapter and boy, let me sum it up in one word: POWERFUL. I think Kazuma or Miki was the main dancer for this. The hand-over-mouth motif was prominent in the segment leading up to BRILLANTe, which opened with its ominous tone. Truly apt I must say. Ayu appeared in a metal ball with 2 other dancers above ground. At the side were ribbon dancers(?). As she sang the song, which was amazingly strong, there was wind blowing at her light-semi-translucent skirt/dress and she was moving with so much grace it was so beautiful. And the entire moood in the song was so darn EPIC! The performance ended with a dancer putting Ayu's hand over her mouth.
But she quickly let go when Mad World started playing. She sounded so good honestly and when she hit the chorus, I could feel her plea and cries. She got emotional during the performance and there was just so much tension. The chorus just hit so hard I teared. During the chorus, the lyrics were shown on screen too and I think the audience was rather emotional too. And yup, at the end, she was gestured to keep quiet as the other dancers put their finger at their mouths facing her in a hush gesture while this evil character pulls her hand towards her mouth.
Endless Sorrow gave the Nothingness Chapter some hope but it was also a really sad piece. Ayu went up again into the air with another male dancer and gosh, the part where she just hooks her hands around his neck is insane and scary!!
ever free's segment was gorgeous! The shadowplay was so good and genious so please watch it when the video is out! I think it ended with ayu narrating in English "We are all ALONE, but we are the ONE, if we have LOVE" or something alongthose lines, clearly referencing back to A ONE's title.
Survivor was great! I loved her costume. I thought it was a shorter kimono but it was quite beautiful, a cross between a coat and kimono with gorgeous sleeves. She really nailed the high notes on this one :) I noticed that despitethe colourful lights and beautiful costumes, the side screens were all in monochrome and even themain screen on stage showed Ayu in monochrome. I thought it was a nice subtle hint at the coldness of the city which fit the lyrics.
until that Day...'s guitar sounds always sound quite different from the studio version somehow but it was a really hyped song (despite the audience around me not jumping so much...are Japanese really thatttt reserved LOL)
Days and You were were sung really well. Days was sung alone like in TA tour and I could feel her genuinity and sincerity while she was performing this. You were started out a lil shaky on the high notes but she managed to control them and just hit them towards the second half of the song.
Final chapter!!! OMG LOVED IT!! evolution's and vogue's new versions are a MUST to be ripped into mp3. Amazing remakes as with GREEN's and Im so happy she did that. evolution featured traditional drums while vogue sounded rather dark at some parts.
You are the only one was sheer perfection. She sounded so so amazing. It was a grandiose performance, with the vogue and Moments feather fans making a comeback. They formed a heartshape sign around her. And then forming a pair of wings behind her. She vibrato and opera-istic singing was heartwarming to listen to :) So so good! How does Timmy even write such epic songs for her LOL!
Encore was a whole lot of fun and yea, no surprise why TODAY was voted the best song of the album. Its a really sincere and heartwarming piece when you are there live. Before the song, they played a video of the Kumamoto/Fukuoka earthquake aftermath with TODAY's instrumental playing. Almost cried here. And there were scenes of people in the temp houses watching Ayu singing too. Lots of ayu's words were flashed on screen including a segment of FLOWER's lyrics. She was gonna cry in TODAY until the bridge where her dancer's intro helped soothed her emotions.
I was expecting MY ALL but she inserted The Show Must Go On today. Very amazing atmosphere created by the song to be honest and Im so happy she did it. I felt the lyrics really match the whole theme of the concert so well.
Enjoyed it so so much! You can really feel that the new songs were created with a direction and purpose and the whole concert has a lot of thought and new gimmicks put into it. Chapter of Nothingness is hands down honestly, one of her BEST performances in years. Theres too much figurative meaning and emotion in this segment, which i havent seen in a while.
