Thoughts on the a-nation '08 performances
 

From what I've seen so far after several failed attempts to watch "HQ" copies, I just got doobie's version from JPS and that worked lovely-lylylyly.

I'm pretty impressed that she pulled out such an AMAZING performance for MW and ASFXX. Like, it was expected since she only appeared twice as opposed to some artists who appeared for like every single stop. tbh, that just cheapens the performances. Ayu ALWAYS brings it. OMG.

Time to finish watching though. Greatful days does sound lipsynched in the way that she has a huge backing vocal for the chorus.

AUDIENCE is hotness. Same as usual. OMGGGG SHE'S DOING B&G NOW. WOOOO~

July 1st is as amazing as I've always remembered it. I think this is her most solid a-nation since '05. That one is #1, '02 is #2, and this one is #3. VERY close. LOOOOVE it.

Greatful days you can tell they have the back vocals up high, but she is singing in most parts, you can hear her vibrato in it... I thought she did a wonderful job on MW and ASFXX also, I wish she would have sang Greatful days more with the back track turned down lower. Meh. Guess everything can't be perfect. But overall I LOVED her performances~ :luv2

I wonder if Ayu can control how high they put the backing vocals.. or if the manipulator does that when he feels it necessary.

Anyone interested in some 320kbps rips of the TV version? I totally am up for doing it.

A song for XX gave me chills, she was breath-takingly good *0*;

I'd imagine that Ayu would have some kind of say in it, but then again, who really knows how everything at a-nation works.

I'd LOVE some 320 kbps TV rips. :D

Mirrorcle World gave me chills at the end. :3

MW and ASFXX were really cool! I love how dramatic she was in MW, who says it's annoying?! And ASFXX, I think the rain really helped with her overpowering emotions!

Really cool performances she gave, the rain added a really interesting element, it wasn't just another a-nation. She was so wet during A Song for xx!

Vocals were good, though the "uh ha la aahh~~" after the main chorus in MW got out of hand, it sounded like she was drowning with how deep in the throat her voice was :P

MW was really an amazing performance. well to be honest, i didnt expect she will sing that good this time, but when i sa it WOW is that ayu? is that REALLY ayu? oh my god! she sings so well and ROCK! i like the moment when she took the golden outfit out, plus the firework, its purely amazing! the rain in ASFXX was giving the song another extra bonus. it make the whole thing so emotional and rock. and for the other, i think they are okay!

LOVE MW, A SONG FOR XX and Greatful!!! Even though the backing vocals for Greatful were very loud but it was still a very enjoyable performance...

she really nailed this one this year...i hope it's a good sign

A Song for XX was a special performance and sounded not too bad, but Greatful days was lipsynced, lol.

truehappiness is this your "fave" most solid a-nation vocal-wise or overall performance wise? Cause you mention it's the best since a-nation 2005. Well that one, was stunning. <3

Ayu's dress in Greatful days was sooo nice and summery. :3 and YAY for Yocchan ♥

I love your rips!!!!! PLEASE DO MW AND ASFXX!!!!!)))

Well i love this show, but i would like 1 more dark song. Hope on DVD we will see fairyland and hanabi maybe they will replece Greatful days and AUDIENCE?? Or just add two perfomances which left!!! I want 1 more dark song in this show!! As HANABAI was!

I don't think Ayu ever completely lipsynchs.. like, they always have her voice there, it's just that they turn the backing vocals WAAAAY UP.

I totally love A Song for XX's performance! It's probably the best performance of the night, followed by MW.

Audience songs performances (July 1st, AUDIENCE, and B&G) were uber amazing. I used to dislike these performance but now i really enjoyed how ayu and her dancers interact with the audience, their high enthusiasm and energy; while watching it i feel like i was among the thousands of people watching the performances X]

Well, for Greatful days, I suppose the backing vocals were slightly louder than other songs. But you could still hear that she was really singing, like how she accidentally accented some notes in the chorus and all that.

I felt that this a-nation performance was really good, and I just love how the audience reacted and cheered!

Mirrorcle World and A Song for xx's vocals were great!
A proof that ayu can still sing extremely well.

I'll just write a little before I run to class. I LOVED the new A Song for XX. It was so powerful! I love the combination of the original A Song for XX and the one from A BALLADS (you can hear the guitar riffs at the end).

:)

~July 1st=love!

rips from MW and asfxx would be amazing!!! *-*

i'm in love with this a-nation!! I also think thay one more dark/ballad song would be better... HANABI added... grr... i would eliminate AUDIENCE and GD only to see Fairyland and HANABI... (though GD was really funny to see ^^ i also liked it... and yes, the background voice was extremnly loud... like one Endless Sorrow performance in TV i saw long time ago...)


byee!

The only thing that I pretty much didn't like was the camera angles. Especially in the audience songs, like AUDIENCE. I guess they were probably trying to show the crowd's enthusiasm, but do they have to zoom out soooo many times? I prefer looking at Ayu D:

MW and ASFXX, like everyone has said, was absolutely AWESOME.
Those who were complaining about Ayu's vocals, HOW'D YOU LIKE THIS NOW?! :P
These were the only performances I've been able to watch so far: couldn't download her entire performance, or the file was corrupted.

Anybody have a link?

i really love this year's a-nation!!!
ayu looked really pretty!!!
love him singing under the pouring rain..made her look more gorgeous!!!
just love this a-nation!!

I got nth to complain about her vocal in it because it was SO SO SO DAMN GOOD!*thumbs up

especially A song for XX!im completed stunned that she still can sing well!we should appreciate ayu for all her hard work!

I loved this year's a-nation, despite not getting to hear a new song. She ALWAYS looks and performs great for a-nation, so I was really happy when they announced she would be in it after she wasn't on the list initially. Only one thing bothered me: why did she yank her left earring out in B&G? For the rest of the song and for July 1st it looked weird 'cause she only had 1 earring! XD

haha but i prefer it!i think it actually makes me proud of ayu when i sing how enthusiastic the audience or fans were!

Well, I loved the performances. :) Especially ASFXX.

And I liked her vocals too. Her singing was good. But one thing that kinda bothers me is how she often tends to yell instead of singing. Like my music teacher once said, a good singer can sing well while singing out loud, a great singer can sing great even while singing very quietly, and an awesome singer doesn't have to raise the volume of the voice to sound incredibly powerful. :/

But I know she has her ear problems and all, so I'm not gonna whine about that any more, I love most of her performances anyways :D

^

Eeh? She can sing fine quietly, too. E.g. Secret AT07.

But you can't sing a rock-y powerful song quietly..Now it doesn't need to be yelling but imo it really adds to the song and makes her different from those generic pop artists that sing each song in the same way, though they're about completely different things.

Not gonna talk about the vocals here, something MORE important. I just remembered what I wanted to ask, during the dancers' introduction, WHAT THE HECK DID AYU CALL SUBARU?! It sounded something like Subasoba! XD Did he change his name or something XD I noticed it in one of the bootleg footage of AT08, but I thought I misheard something. LOL, Subasoba~

Subaru-sama.

I thought she said like, Tsubasa.. but..

I guess she was yelling to hype up the event and to make it happening.. Totally love this year's a-nation!!! :D

Well yea, but you don't have to yell to sing a rock song, if the song isn't really meant to be yelled. ;) Of course i think her yelling really fits into some songs/parts in example MW and the end of ASFXX, but I don't really like too much like when she doesn't sing B&G with just a powerful voice but tends to shout. Of course, she's just probably just hyping up the crowd like the poster above said, but still.... Well just my opinion XD

And I know she can sing fine quietly, I never said she can't. And I also know she can sing really powerfully without yelling, but to me it seems like she sometimes gets too into the performance and forgets to control her voice and starts kind of yelling. But yeah so I don't mean to argue here, this is most likely just my opinion. :rolleyes

Well, fyi, Ayu was never really that good of a technical singer. imo, it's amazing that she's gotten such a high super star status without having the "pipes" to back that up. But to make up for that, she's got an insightful mind and a killer fashion sense, which can't be said for most artists..

^-I always thought that Ayu has an incredibly beautiful voice, which kinda makes up for the lack of "thecnics". And personally I think she's way better than an average singer overall... well maybe not like Christina Aguilera level but definately better than many caucasian artists of this decade. And I know she's always been kinda shaky as a (live) singer but she's had her great moments too (imo her voice was awesome during around 04-06) so I know what she's capable of.

^

I agree with hanii, Ayu sings great. I don't think she has some kind of less good voice than other artists. o_O

Off-topic: Kuu sounds bad live with TABOO. =/

I really love this year's a-nation, Ayu was awesome :love
So much better than last year :yes
ASFXX was awesome O_o damn I got goose bumps^^
And I really don't know what to think about the GD part,
was it lip-syncing or not @__@? 50:50?
I tend towards the second option^^
Ayu always rocks the a-nation o/ She is the queen :D

Most likely high backing track. She misses the first line of Boys and Girls, so you can hear how low the backing track is in that song.

This "TV-version" can't be compared to her regular TV-versions though. This is more like an aired DVD-version, since it's not aired live. They had the footage for months to play around with unlike her live Countdown Lives. They can adjust the loudness of vocals and all (quiet down Peco and Princess)

i absolutely LOVED ASFXX, this has got to be my fave ASFXX performance now~...i didn't care much for the other songs..

^

I dunno. Even if they edit, they can't really make it sound lip synched imo.. E.g. 1 LOVE sounds lip synched regardless of being 'touched up' or not. Say, Secret, on AT07 got the same 'touch up' but it still sounds live..

It's kinda disappointing to find out more lip synchs all the time. -_- Like, the first four songs of AT07 were lip synched. >_>

O.o I was AT2007 and it was totally not lip synched...

Anyways, I all the videos I have downloaded so far, from Greatful days -> the video goes out of sync with the audio? It's really noticeable during AUDIENCE because the claps don't match up with the song. Does anyone else have this problem?

Well, they only had it for a month..
And they edit the other singers too, levels and stuff.
They can't do much to the broadcast audio, except just adjust levels, yeah.
So, I mean, as for me, I think this is pretty much how she sounded that day.
except maybe turning up backing track on greatful days..
But I think definitely not lip sync~~

I feel bad for saying people lip sync... I always thinking, what if they were really singing.. and I say they are lip syncing..
Wouldnt it make them feel bad?? LOL "you believe I cant sing like that?"
Or similar... ahaha, so stupid, I realize.

why did you say its lip sync?? It's not possible for the evolution to have lipsynced. That one is too hard, that version.
And I think UNITE is live too... 1 LOVE, I don't think lipsync, but heavy edits. Maybe lipsync, I am not sure about it.
But yeah, evolution and UNITE I believe are live 100% =\

MW and ASFXX energy was pretty close to the performance I saw at her HK stop on 09/21 ... it was really amazing!!

but I hate to say it but she did lip sync during 09/21 at the beginning of (don't) leave me alone when she was spinning because her mouth really did not match the word at all in the beginning

I loved them! MW and ASFXX were really great, and the rain was a perfect, natural addition! * Her voice sounded good, and I could just feel the emotion... ASFXX seriously gave me chills.

Hmm, now I need to watch it again! xD

I'm not saying they heavily edited it, just that it's not fully comparable to her CDL TV-versions. If you want something comparable to that, watch the news clips.

I thought she did amazing!!! I really think the fact that it was pouring down rain during her ENTIRE performance added to her energy. She was just like, "ALRIGHT! Let's do this and have FUN!" It was really great!

we're again have discussion about lyp synch. About 1 Love lyp synched it was posted by truehappienes sometime ago, just watch videos from mobile phoens of fans, that song was really edited, Ayu sang it in a bit other way on the show, and that sounded really live, as until that day also.

And this TV version of A-Nation also edited, they, for example, had to reduce sound of rain.
But i'm totally addicted to this MW and ASFXX perfomances!! I'm watching it every day for several times!!!

It seems like Ayu finally has corrected her singing. XD It doesn't sound so terrible anymore. (unless it's lipsynced) O__O

I loved how she sang ASFXX!! :love For me it was better than the original on the album

^
I loved the perf for a song for XX, and the whole rain scenario made it really strong!

But I dunno.. In terms of voice, I like this performance better because she is more in control and doesn't have that squeaky lil voice that we all grew to love and hate.
HOWEVER, I think her past performances was alot more...'real' because back then because that's how she really felt and that's the kind of person she was that made her different from all the other artists. Instead of giving out this overflowing aura of confidence, she always had that scarred insecure person-which made her so relatable.

I'm not really sure how to word this; but when she did the crazy rocker movements with the a-nation 08 perf, it made my heart sink a little. It's like, she needed to create this character to match the song and it wasn't really coming from her heart. I know it's because she changed over the years and is no longer the Ayu she was back in the 200~2003 era, but still. This performance of a song for XX just didn't feel right. Is there anyone that agrees with me?

well, no. I wouldn't agree with that wasn't her feelings from heart. She always made show and now she has more practice than in 2002 but she making songs and singing them still form her heart, and of course it is not that Ayu tyhat was back in 2002.

Well, watching this ASFXX perfomance i realized that something collapsed inside her after last year. Her life now is more darker and painful, she still feeling lost of her friend, and canceled wedding. And for some reason I'm sure that she will never merry

ASFXX was really powerful. I was absolutely in love with it-- the rain's effect and Ayu's vocals. I love the "itsumade mo onaji tokoro ni wa irarenaiiiii~YEAH" part. The way Ayu sings it is sooo good!!

MW was really awesome too. I liked July 1st a lot. I had a kinda nostalgic feeling for some reason. AUDIENCE was also great, and so was B&G. Ayu didn't sing evolution, did she? :/

It'll always be something you'll never know, wouldn't it? I'd say Ayu is really really good at conveying emotions with her actions on stage that represent the song. She'd always been really good at that. Whether or not it's for real is debateable. I personally believe that it's kinda half-half. There has to be an element of acting, otherwise it won't always come out the way she wants it to. But on the other hand, I don't think she would be this good at it without the emotions at least being half real-- she draws them out while she's performing.

I find it cute how they put an A symbol sticker on the 'a' in the brand name (Roland) of the keyboards xD Oh and Peco looked hawt with wet hair. (Have yet to see the performances infront of B&G since my torrent has yet to finish. Yea, I was watching it before it completed xD)

ASFXX is just rawwww with emotions, either she's faking it or not. But I could definitely feel it. One of the few performances which could actually have my hair stand on its end. 0_0

Are you sure? :roflmao When in the world did that start? XD

No idea when that happened.

But she totally said Subaru-sama.

... Damn I have to go watch this now. I feel so left out XD

This was a really good a-nation and Ayu was awesome!!
and omg.. DAI!! :D
Seeing everyone perform in the rain was amazing, it looked so good! everybody looked so hot in the rain ^^


And I was sooo friggin' happy to see Tomonashi Yoshihiro play again!!!
...one of Ayu's old Keyboard players ^^
He was my fav Ayu bandmember and I wish I could have been there to see/hear him play.

I think thats the best a-nation perf ever!! each yr even better than the previous one XD

Starting part of Mirrorcle World rocks .. her actions made the whole perf rlly very dramatic. which is rlly rlly cool <333

ASFXX . ayu + rain + powerful vocals = HOT!!!
Greatful Days. loved her dress and her hair xD
AUDIENCE/B&G/July 1st .my all-time favs!! ^^ love it <3

this is my first time watching the entire a-nation concert and i must say it's AWESOME!!

Mirrorcle World was flawless.. it was full of energy.. i pity the red dress which the dancers threw it behind after being torn out of ayu. XD A Song for XX was classic. i like it when bass, guitar, choruses and ayu are all in the rain for this song.. INTENSE was the word!!

July 1st was so serene yet at the end was so full of energy!! i like this song as the ending song.

When Peco and Yoko walk down the runway, i felt weird cos for so many years i have known them, i haven seen them side by side together.. feels so "sisterly".. LOL!!

I must say everybody who performed in the rain were professional.. i give it 100/100!! :D

When Zin was thanking the audience in July first while facing (the audience's right), he looked so cute.. like a kid!!!!!!!!

Yoko was funny while doing the "lalala" at the end of Boys & Girls!

Ah.. I only saw a very very low quality Video of it.. and don't really saw something. But.. I think, it was a good performance.
I really like, that she sung Audiance. I really like that song.

@maikaru

No I proved a while back that evolution was lip synched, except the intro.

UNITE! I don't know but I've heard the vocal track before.

1 LOVE vocals is the same as other performances and some concertgoers said it was kinda lip synched.

until that Day, vocals the same too as a-nation 07 and the ooh-ooh's sound too licked.

And you can't blame that on DVD editing, because other songs like Secret do sound very much live.

People who claim 100% that she's not live and went either didn't go to Yoyogi performance (as its possible she lip synched then, but not at other gigs), didn't pay attention, saw what they wanted to see or were too far back to actually see something. ^_^

~~~~~~

anyways back to a-nation 08

I thought it was really annoying how she's 'gesturing' at her dancers and stuff instead of interacting with the audience. I feel like the dancers are getting a more and more part in her concerts and that her lip synching times increase gradually with it as well. I'd prefer it if she ditched the dancers or made them BACKGROUND dancers again and focussed more on audience interaction and vocals. But heh w/e. ^_^

I LOVE IT!!!
she really did a really well GREAT JOB!!!
i think its my favourite a-nation

i love that she gave subaru a lot more attention too, in MW, subaru always in the front and in audience and car thingy, he right beside ayu...yay for subaru

Ayu did a gorgeous job I love the choices of songs that were chosen <3 The whole performance was perfect ^_^
If there's mp3s of this performance please let me know where to find I would love to have and would appreciate it greatly <3

They're in the downloads section.

^ Ah thanks :)
I never get a chance to check there since most of my time is spent in the news forum or the chat room