I am so against recording/taking pictures during the shows. It's unbearable when people constantly hold their phones up. Distracting and stuff.

I think when people talk, laugh, scream and sing during lives is way more distracting and it's very common at Ayu shows.
It's just for first 3 songs and I'm sure staff will ask not to hold phones up high. Although I can see this being a problem for people who are not very tall.

wow...that's really suprising..but it's a good marketing decision...

does anyone sell ticket for 7/18 show?

I think taking a few pics is fine, as long as people do not take 100 pics. I also so can't stand it if people in front of me hold their phone up for the whole show. It's damn fucking disrespectful. I'm just 158cm and it's already hard for me to have a good view and then people in front of me hold their arms up because of their phones so that I have no chance anymore to see anything.
Just went to see the christening of a cruise ship last weekend. There was a damn great light show and firework, but all I was seeing was peoples phones because those idiots had to record the whole fucking thing. I'm still pissed.

Interesting! Videos are definitely going to be recorded lol

Equally distracting for me. Especially when some people are trying to get closer to the stage, so they're pushing you and almost try to climb on top of you. But I also hate it when people talk and sing along too much. I come to the concert to listen to the live vocals of the artist, not to the fans. But I was lucky that the crowd around me wasn't noisy during the Ayu shows I attended.

^ I thought japanese fans didn't sing along since once some japanese fans online bashed a foreigner for being loud at a concert haha

I think that since it's new for them, japanese fans won't be overly annoying while taking pictures, but it's true that it's nicer attending a concert without anyone recording.

I think recording is fine, as long as it's not too long. It's normal to want a piece of video that only you have, to remember the concert by. Even recording one full song is fine as long as you don't hold the camera up in such a way that you're blocking the people behind you.

And to give some perspective from the OTHER SIDE: At my last Madonna concert (Rebel Heart tour) I was standing in front of some arrogant b!tch Brazilian who kept yelling "PUT YOUR PHONES DOWN" through every song and actually slapped people around him on the head if they were using their phones. Now THAT is much, much more distracting, rude and concert-ruining behavior than the actual recording.

A poor girl in front of me was recording for 15 seconds when the guy slapped her. I saw she wanted to record a couple of times -- probably a little bit of her favorite songs -- but she looked scared and hesitant. So no, it's not just the recording that ruins the concerts. It's also the annoying "anti-recorders".

By the way, he never engaged me, possibly because I was standing directly in front of him. I just kept having his arm reach out over my shoulder to slap other people.

Edit: Another thing far more distracting than mobile phone use is people chatting with their friends during ballads, or people going ape-sh!t crazy during dance songs. I don't want an arm in my face every 5 seconds, thanks. It's not a rave, it's a concert. Give me some space.

Having said that, I've never ever had a bad experience at any Ayu or other J-Pop concert. The people are very well organized, considerate, fun and engaging with the artist. Western-based concerts on the other hand...eesh.

I agree, but a lot of people don't care about this so they will record A LOT as long as they have a chance.

I think Ayu's solution is perfect for this though, you still have a chance to have something to remind you that you were at the concert, but it's only for a small part of the show, so you won't ruin someone's experience by recording.

Oh, sometimes they do. For example during A Best Live one girl next to me was like "oh, I love this one!!!" when Memorial Address started and she began singing along ruining the song for me.
A lot of fans come with friends and they talk to each a lot during songs and laugh which is really annoying.
There are always complaints on people with bad manners on Mixi, Japanese people, for reason.
But I agree, in general Japanese fans behave better than western fans.

I don't think it's ok to record a full song. If you have your phone up for a few seconds, fine. I also take a few pics. But recording a full song because it's your favourite is not ok. It also might be someone else's favourite song. Normally I can watch the performamce through the spaces between people's heads. But when people record there isn't any space left and the only things I see are heads, arms and some lights. Since quite some time now everyone seems to think it's ok to record as long as they just record one song. But guess what, mostly EVERYONE does that. It ruins everything for me. And a lot of people have the same favourites. Last time I went to a concert someone in front of me recorded during my favourite song and I wasn't able to see the stage anymore. I was so angry I cried. If I would have been tall enough I would have hit that person on the head too. But since I'm just a little woman I have to accept that people are just selfish and always finding excuses why it's acceptable to record and ruin the live experience for other people who aren't lucky to be tall enough.

Imagine the flood of Ayu's MIJ opening on Instagram. It's gonna such an amazing thing to view. Im glad she's finally taking Instagram seriously since Winter Diary LOL

I'm very curious to see how this concert pans out. I have high hopes... Wish I could go see it in person. :love

How can you even hear other people singing over top the live performances?? I guess maybe it depends how close you are to the stage.

You seem bitter about your concert experiences.

It's completely possible to record a full song without obstructing anyone's view. I've done it before and will do it again. It truly creates one special memorable video for the rest of your life. :) (I actually recorded Rule in full when I attended AT09..haha..managed to get the full song before staff approached me.) Of course, I always make sure to hold the phone sort of in front of my own face. If people hold it too high, that's another issue. In that case, even 30 seconds is quite annoying.

Although, to be honest, it doesn't even bother me that much. I just enjoy the concert experience.

Good question. I only notice that issue when watching YouTube videos. Or..well, I had a first floor seat once at a Fleetwood Mac concert and you could clearly hear the people talking and singing. Bad acoustics / bad seat I guess. Still the best concert of my life though. FM is amazing.

I think if a concert is truly good, then all these distractions don't matter. If a concert is just OK or so-so then you're more likely to pay attention to them.

Clearly you've never attended to a concert in Brazil :P

Lately, yes. xD
If you hold the phone in front of your own face, it's fine. But people tend not to do this. Most people hold the phone over their heads with their arms therefore on the left and right side of their heads. This way it's impossible for people who are tinier then most people like me, to see anything. Last time I counted seven people with phones over their heads in front of me. Thank you.
I'm going to concerts since 11 years now and during the last 2 or 3 years it got really extreme regarding people and phones. Because I'm smaller than most people, especially men tend to hit me with their elbows anyhow on my head a few times during a concert. But now that everyone is recording the whole time people hit me more often when lifting their arms and on top of that I can't see anything. It would just be nice if people could show a little more consideration for people around them. Especially when your not seated in an arena or concert hall and when you're standing. Because when everyone is standing and you don't have a seat, you have to hold the phone over your head to record, otherwise your recording will show just heads. So when your not seated but standing it would be nice if people would stop recording so that everyone around them can enjoy the concert. And trying not to hit people on the head with their elbows would also be great. It hurts.

I read people saying that at Ayu's concerts the sound felt lower than concerts in western countries, have you attended an Ayu concert and could you tell the difference?

Oh I thought the sound at Ayus concert was so much higher than for example Mariah Careys, which I attended short time ago! Ayus concert you couldn't hear your own voice, at Mariah you could :D And I was at fourth row on both.