Official thread of your thoughts on (ARENA TOUR 2009) #1
 

After getting the video of rollin' and Sparkle, and watching it.

What do you think?


I think .... Sparkle could be a stable song. I like how the reaction and action when ayu sings "No no no...". However, there are something I don't really get into it. The dancing performance looks very weird to me. Maybe i need to get use to about it?

btw, when ayu performs rollin', the way she dances reminds me this

:banana2:banana1:banana2:banana1:banana2:banana1

i've only seen Sparkle and rollin' so far.
i LOVED rollin', she was so cute/funny and i love how she was acting all robotic. the lights were AMAZING. Sparkle was great too, she was having so much fun and not taking herself seriously, and i loved the "NO NO NO"'s. but seriously i can't stop watching rollin'!

I'm pleased with rollin' and Sparkle. She sang really well compared to all her other lives in the past two years. :) The screens are pretty nice too. I wish they would show more of them because sadly all the colors and lights are what keeps me interested... :thud

What I don't like though is that her costumes are still just dumb looking and the choreography is pathetic.

so far i think the concert is definitely better than AT08
weird outfit though but enjoyed her performance

ayu is absolutely crazy in Sparkle
but i love it!!!
she's cute in Rollin' too... ^___^

rollin' was great! I love how she was cutesy/robotic like in the performance of it.
Sparkle I thought was good, her voice was a little light during the song...but I love how she gets the audience going with the NO NO NO's. I would have loved to be there for that moment! :D
Overall, I think this concert is going to be one of her best from recent years. It seems like she was genuinely having fun and not taking herself too seriously, which is great!
Oh and I love how she messed up the lyrics in the beginning of rollin' but she went on like "hey, whatever! Let's just have fun here~" Gotta love those awesome Ayu moments.
Oh yea, and the crazy Ayu dancing...haha! *she's a maniac! MANIAC!!*

So far I have only seen Rollin and Sparkle.

The biggest positive for me was that I liked the stage. The rest, not so much.

Ayu just looked weird a lot of the time with that outfit and the faces she was pulling throughout both performances.

I like the song Rollin' and the concert reports were right - it certainly does have weird choreography. :) Her voice was not very good in this song.

Sparkle was basically how I suspected from the news clips - the only part that seems live is the ending no no nos especially when you compare to how her voice sounded just a few seconds earlier in Rollin. So I'm not the biggest fan of this performance either; but I never liked this song much to begin with anyways.

I know this is the part of the concert that most people were looking forward to the most, but for me this is probably what I want to see least, so hopefully the rest is better. :)

I love it!! I've seen rollin', sparkle, evolution and SIGNAL and I just can say that it's pure amusement. Evolution performance was the usual perf but the audience seemed to be wilder and more energetic than in the past concerts, something which I liked. SIGNAL was better than that I was expecting, the best part for me is when she says "IT'S SHOW TIME!" and the dancers start dancing individually (not always though).

rollin' was so funny and entertaining, with all her weird dances and faces. Sparkle performance was... really strange, I don't know if it was what I wanted it to be, but at least I think that I like it.

The stage, lights, screens, effects and camera editing are simply EPIC.

When the tour started and we got lots of photos and reports I said something: "I won't judge it until I watch it". Time passed and my expectations were lower because I didn't see it like a NEXT LEVEL, like the title of the tour announces but... I have to say that I'm very pleased with what I've watched, it is something new, something we needed, isn't it? So, now I'm hoping that the rest of songs will be as great as the ones we already saw.

Good job Ayu and Ayu's team!

From the 4 perfomances I saw so far I loved it, it a very energetic concert.

Rollin' - The probably the most funniest, cutest, and robotic performance I've seen. Can't stop watching it!

Sparkle - Energetic, like how she gets the fans involved

Evolution - Is almost like some of the Evolution she's perform. (AT07 is still the best in my opinion)

Signal- Its ok, I guessed it not my favorite song.

The stage is awesome compare to the past, lighting is great, and costume is ok for now cause all I've seen in these performance are just sparkly costume. Have to watch the whole performance to see the rest of the costume.

I love the stage design!! It's really different from previous years.. And the HUGE screens are a plus too! I enjoyed Rollin' although it isn't my favourite song from the album :D Sparkle lacked that X-factor, but nevertheless, I enjoyed it too~ It was nice to see her acting silly in Rollin' and the part she forgot her lyrics was funny! Now, I'm anticipating the DVD :D

i have only seen rollin and omg!!! i loved it :roflmao it was so awesome!!! it did remind me of ai otsuka though :P

Ive seen rollin and Sparkle only, I like how stage looks, her clothes are fun and sparkly but the wig mh not so much. she was actin' so fun and cute, for a second I thought is she on drugs? lol. her voice was not that good, but not horrible either.

I've only seen evolution and the first few seconds of SIGNAL and listened to Sparkle and rollin'
So far, I liked evolution though it just was an average performance, but it was live, so it was good, SIGNAL looked amazing from these few seconds because the lights were going wild!
rollin' sounds VERY weird, I don't really like it and Sparkle...I think it might be playback, but I'm not sure because i only listened to it so far

Does she say "da da da da da" at the start of Rollin'? (As in, she forgot the lyrics?)

opinion change after watching rollin' and Sparkle:
amazing stage set-up
weird but funny performances
Sparkle hardly could have been a more obvious playback aside the nononos at the end, but im not complaining, its the first playback i see so far andn it fits....

Ah I love it! The screens for Disco-munication are so cute!

Rule sounded great...though for the whole song, I was just thinking..."Ayu's boobs are huge" lol

LOVE 'n' HATE is totally hot! She sounds great ♥

identity is probably my favorite performance!

Mm...meh? I'm about halfway through rollin', and while I haven't seen everything yet, I have to admit I'm a little disappointed in the lack of performance ingenuity. I sound like such a douche to say that, I suppose. :(
But with something like NEXT LEVEL, wouldn't it have been interesting to come at the tour from a slightly different angle, with some twists? Seconds before Ayu appeared, I suddenly had an image of her appearing from a big glass elevator in the back. The stage pop-up is fine, I suppose, but not exactly new.

...*is too picky, perhaps, and is now going to finishing watching the rest*

EDIT: After Sparkle..it was all right, but I guess I'm just getting used to it? The ending made it, for me. Especially Ayu's back-to-back with Maro, and Shuya's little hand-on-hip twist. xD

I just finished rollin' and I'm onto Sparkle, and I too am feeling very disappointed. The whole thing feels kinda cheap, and those jumbotrons she's using (or whatever) to display those effects - which remind me of the effects from WMP - remind me of something from MUSIC STATION or something. It feels...nothing like a concert. And that wig. :thud I'm a fan of Ayu with short hair, but this is ridiculous! Her CDL0708 short crop was so beautiful, and au naturel. :yes

Maybe it's just that this is a TV broadcast. Haven't you guys said they can be different - and bad -sometimes? *sigh* I dunno, but I'm feeling let down. One thing's for sure: I am liking her male dancers this time, if you know what I mean. :lech Sparkle's a hot song, and it's turning out to be a hot performance. :yes

I can only hope the DVD might be better, or after these opening songs things will turn out better. And that Ayu will take off the damn wig.

EDIT: However, I do notice Ayu seems really peppy and into it, so that's always a good thing. >w< She looks like she's having so much fun, and when she took off those funky glasses, and then gave a "V", that was too cute! >w<

Apparently, the whole performance of rollin' and Sparkle do not feel "cheap", but ayu needs to move more when she dances. She dances like.. a wood-doll that cannot move her joints.

Someone may say that that is the purpose of the performance, but I think she can act like robot in a more active and creative way. There is a room for improvement.

btw, when ayu performs rollin', the way she dances (0:58 - 1:15) reminds me this

:banana2:banana1:banana2:banana1:banana2:banana1

FAR BETTER than her last 2 tours... It's energetic, she interacts A LOT with her public and it's really is focused on the performers more than on special effects and props!

I was EMBARRASSED watching rollin' and Sparkle. Sparkle has the most plays out of any song in my ENTIRE library and I get a horrible PV and performance. To be honest, I could not stand this tour. Not only was I totally embarrassed watching her make a fool out of herself in rollin'/Sparkle, but she acted a little bit like a ***** in identity. I mean, I like it when kuu does it because her only good music is when she does act like that, but I am still in a state of shock of seeing her stick her ass in Shu-ya's stuff. Oh my god.

The EnergizE segment was cute. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but this concert was crap in my opinion.

I thought so too at first, but you can hear subtle differences that reveal she's not lip-synching. Not her most powerful vocal performance of course.

imo the only playback was at energize... and maybe sunrise
every other vocal performaces were too flawed

I really enjoyed this tour even without really liking the album. Ayu looked and sounded great and the costumes weren't as hideous as I thought when the pictures were first released. I guess they just look better in motion haha

I have to admit though that everytime they zoomed in on Ayu during the Rule performance all I could think was 'Boobs!' >_>

WOW just WOW it was completely AWESOME!!!! I'm soooooo looking forward to the DVD of this!!!
Just spectacular!!!! Ayu never lets me down!!!!
My favs were identity, GREEN and rollin'/Sparkle!!
A wonderful concert!

While the tour had its share of rehashes (oh no shuya, don't go, aerial dancers, ballad reaching out for nothing) it really felt refreshing compared to her 2 previous tours. Not only the stage, but also how she conducted herself on stage. I felt entertained throughout. :yes

what i love about this tour:
-ayu's interaction with the audience
-the lights/stage
-the screens
-her vocals (they're not perfect, but a huge step up from AT08)
-rollin'! i still can't get over how awesome that performance is
-use of MARO instead of shuya, he is a MUCH better dancer
-just most of the perfomances! my favorite performances were Rule, Days (omg i loved the end finally shuya and ayu are together after so many deaths and falling down stairs in the sky etc) EnergizE (the mario screen was SO cute), Sunrise, LOVE 'n' HATE, identity, HOPE or PAIN (and i usually hate this song), Days, evolution (finally it's just evolution, not SURREAL~evolution~SURREAL, i loved the energy), rollin', and NEXT LEVEL (bridge to the sky was so cute!!)

my dislikes:
-the way it was filmed in some performances
-ayu's overacting in a few performances
-In the corner, we already saw this at PCDL, it wasn't exciting or anything, it also didn't really fit in
-the way she is lifted in Rule like a couple feet backwards, i think it was supposed to look cool but it didn't really lol

overall i really enjoyed it. in every ayu tour there are always performances that make me ":luv2", and this one was no exception. there are still more performances to see, i can't wait for the DVD!

oh my.. I love the performance of rollin'! I didn't expect Ayu to be so cute singing this song. And she forgot the lyrics at the beginning I almost didn't notice!! haha. It was ok for me.. The dance are funny, but I enjoyed it. It wld really be nice if she did make a pv for rollin' =)
it's really great in Sparkle that everyone do the action for "No no no". pretty cool.

I really like Ayu's hair and outfit for evolution!! Anyway I'm beginning to like this song for her concerts cos it really brings the atmosphere. =D

Finally finished watching! Looking forward to the dvd for the encore part and the special screens!

What I like:
-The stage, screens, and lighting! They're the highlights of this tour
-Audience interactions was really good! Sunrise felt like it was a encore performance
-The special screens!
-fav performances: rule, energize, sunrise (not the acting part), evolution, signal
-Maro solo >>>>>>>>>>Shuya
-beginning of love n' hate where they showed the pre-recorded screens on the middle screen and the live shot of the female dancers beside it. That was pretty cool.

What I don't like:
-The way certain part of the performances was filmed...like during the special screens...I wanna see them!! especially bridge to the sky!
-The rollin'/sparkle, hope or pain/green, days, in the corner outfits are still horrible...>_>
-some performances felt like they could of been better
-Don't like the acting/skits...like sunrise...I like the performance part but when she does the acting thing with Gomi like AT08 depend on you and CDL 08-09 Angel's song...I seriously don't like it.

What I want to see on the dvd:
-The special screens!
-better edit of performances

Overall this is not one of her best tours. Most of the outfits are cheap and ugly but the stage, lighting, and the screens are really cool. The beginning of energize was so cool! This tour is different and refreshing compared to her previous tours. If ayu can continue with the great stage/lighting/screens and also go back to her higher budget outfits and add more props, that would be really awesome.

I really liked it. My favourite part was definitely the performance of GREEN and Days. That was really beautiful. Especially since Maro and Midori were awesome (reminds me of Stadium Tour 2002) and and when they came out again during GREEN in the middle stage that was just pretty. Days had a happy ending. Yay!

Ayu looked gorgeous in the screens for the ballad section and the rock section. Her outfit was very hot in LOVE 'n' HATE. :D I thought the idea behind the performance was nice. Ayu's painful love for Shuya, lmao.

NEXT LEVEL was very very pretty. I loved the ending when she was lifted into the air. Rule was very powerful.

I really REALLY liked this performance alot. I think PCDL set the stage (so to speak) for ayu to tone down the stage gimmicks and focus more on the actual performance. The screen, the dancers, and the lighting all felt like enhancements rather than the main attraction, as ayu has a tendency to do - stuff stayed in the background that was supposed to, which is something Ayu seems to have forgotten how to do in recent years. She keeps making the show so huge, that she becomes tiny and barely noticeable within it. Sure, the big MW ship was cool, but Ayu herself was just sort of lost in the whole spectacle. ANYONE can stick a huge prop on stage and make a cool show out of it, really - I don't watch Ayu concerts to see stuff that anyone could do, I watch them to see AYU. To see her enjoying herself, communicating her pains and fears, laughing, crying, and being herself. I like to see the pride in her work, the love for her fans, and above all, her personality when she's on stage. I don't want to see Ayu herself take a backseat to all the embellishments. As props go, a tiny teddy bear is, to me, WAY more important than a giant pirate ship.

Like many of you, I loved the use of Maro, however, the Ayu/Shu-ya relantionshippers screaming in the audience? HILARIOUS!!! XD I have to admit, those moments, hearing the audience freak out, actually made me enjoy watching the show all the more. XD

I loved some of the slight arrangement changes in "GREEN" and "Sunrise," which were subtle but interesting. "GREEN" was gorgeous with the more raw instrumentation, especially.

The photos shown in Bridge to the Sky were FANTASTIC to see!!! I hope we get special screen videos on the DVD so we can get good screencaps of some of those baby photos. :) It was a really touching display too, and a great prelude to "NEXT LEVEL."

Peco still sounds awful.

Shuya still kinda randomly flails.

Ayu's fake-crying has gotten MUCH better, and I do get the feeling she was channeling some real sadness for some of it this time. Her fake crying is usually unbearably bad to watch because it's so phony, but I found myself actually kinda worried about her at times during this show! o_O!!

Overall, this felt like one of Ayu's more raw, natural, and real performances in a long time. It was great. This year, I REALLY feel like I'm getting the ayu I fell in love with back. I hope this keeps up.

I'm not through the whole concert because I just havent had time today to watch it...but what I do like is that I'm having a sort of "Namie" moment.

See with namie, there were a lot of songs of hers I didnt like, but seeing her perform them at a tour, they become fun.

And thats what I have here. I don't like a lot of these songs, nor do I think they're particularly strong on their own, but seeing her perform them, and seeing their use on the stage and how energetic, dramatic, fun, etc. they can be, is really cool, and I start liking them more.

I wouldn't listen to them on their own, but for the tour, I think they all work really well.


Oh while Im here, one thing I didnt like at all...Now I dont mind lip syncing, honestly, I never did...but for some reason, I really really dislike that she did it for Sunrise...I dont know why it bothers me so much for that particular song...but it does lol

I think it would have been better live. That song has interesting dynamics.

The choreography made that performance really fun though, and she always has to lipsync if a song's choreography would make it too hard for her to sing while moving, so I forgave that one.... but I kinda understand your frustration, lol :P

I forgot to say....SHOW TIME was awesome!!!

I thought the arrangements sounded really awesome live this year!! Everything sounded so powerful!

For sure Sunrise wasnt lipsynced, because she did the 123 cutting off the bridge part in Sunrise, which sounds very real to me. I also realized Sunrise is just too low key for her, because verses sound horribly low.. I think Sparkle could have been edited in the vocal room, or really loud playback. In some parts, you can hear two Ayu's (not Peco and the other one), which is like the actual Sparkle track.. but for sure, EnergizE is lipsync. LOL.

I found she is actually singing now. She caught herself half way through UNITE, and starting just singing Unite instead of yelling it. I think the chorus sounds like asia tour 07 UNITE, so I think they might have edit the vocals in the edit room...

I really thought that the crying in Days was very real, actually. I was really impressed, and started to crying too!!! T_T

I didn't really enjoy LOVE'N'HATE, but identity was fun.

I really loved ballad sections~~ and Sparkle and rollin'. ahaha. It was so cute~ and of course, I really love acting part in Energize one!! But maybe I am the only one...ww

NEXT LEVEL was nothing big, but it was nice. I would perfer a grand closing though, like Mirrorcle World, or Bold & Delicious!

Overall, it is MUCH better than last year, and I can feel the emotion (sad and happy) one more time from Ayu!!! yay.

yeah see I usually understand that and dont mind...i dont know why i did so much this time lol I didnt mind for energize at all...except that I dont think it had that much energy in the vocals lol

First of all, eeewww, what is up with Princess' hair and outfit? Same goes to Peco, but I didn't notice her that much. XD

identity was hot. After AT07's Until That Day... and AT08's decision, I was wondering if she could get any hotter gettin' it on with Shuya. Well, she did. Especially during the bridge, did you SEE that?! D: Pissed off at each other, yet still find each other hot, ah love. XD

Him in Days was a little (a lot actually) random, especially since Maro was the one with her in the screen. At least it's a happy ending, maybe that really will be the end. Maro and Midoring were totally awesome, if anything, this would be the formula I would like Ayu to continue with. No more lonely dancer plz kthxbai.

I wished the LotShugyo and disco-munication screens were more focused on, rather than the whole stage. There were also some parts when I wished the angles were zoomed into Ayu, but instead they would show the whole stage and whatnot, sometimes for quite a long period of time. Boo. I hope the DVD will include better camera angles, and of course, the special screens in its own form. I wonder how they're gonna do the disco-munication screen though, since technically there were two of them.

rollin' and Sparkle, I like. They were so funny. Ayu was really weird, but that's okay. She just totally let go, you know, and it was fun to see her like that. The guy dancers' vocals in Sunrise, are they even live? I've been wondering since the first TV live came out. XD I find the mics really useless on them, it's all just for show.

CAMERAS, ZOOM IN MORE, WILL YOU.

Reposting my thoughts from another thread:

Ok, I'm disappointed.
I was so looking forward to rollin' and Sparkle, cause those are my absolutely favourite songs from NEXT LEVEL and it seemed to be so promising from all these reviews about the concert...

All of you who said her vocals are awesome... what are you hearing? I really wonder, cause her voice isn't good at all. In every performance on youtube (rollin', Sparkle, evolution, Signal).
It's horrible in rollin' and in Sparkle after it seems heavily edited because of that.
And the dance, I expected more with it. rollin' is funny, but in Sparkle she's standing there, doing some handmoves here and there and that's all. Where's the actual dance in Sparkle? I love the end with Ayu going freaky though, but they don't show much of it.
And the audience doesn't seem to be more hyped up as usual with Ayu or any other singer.

rollin':
Nice idea, but it good have been so much better. The beginning is great, the lights are nice, the screens amazing. But why didn't they use the throbbing part at the second verse better? That could be epic with lights throbbing in the same way the music goes in this verse. Missed chance. But overall nice performance, cause I can take it funny as it seems to be meant.
Sparkle:
Well, yeah, it's boring with Ayu just standing there.
Her voice sounds better, the screens are nice and I love the end with Ayu spinning round.
evolution:
Why does she sing in her cute voice at the end? Oh dear, I don't like that. The rest is the usual routine.
Signal:
There is an acutal choreography at some points and it's nice to see. I also like her energy with it. Her voice doens't sound good though, that's sad. Can't somebody tell Ayu that singing loud isn't the same as singing strong?

Seriously her voice is buggin me with all those performances.
It's getting worse every year, I'm a little bit worried.

Ayu seems to be having a lot of fun, but to be honest that's just a plus for me.
If I'm paying that much money to see an artist live (or on DVD)I wanna hear great vocals, have a great visual experience and the artist having fun.
The vocals and the voice are still the most important thing for an artist and for an concert. Why isn't Ayu taking some vocal lessons again at this point?
I thought she would begin with them after her ear was going deaf.

I like the costumes so far, they're something different for her, more tacky, but that's entertaining somehow. The lights and the screens are also very nice.

I'm not impressed. rollin' is my favourite so far.
I'm waiting till I see the rest of the concert. I hope I'll be surpriesd in a positive way.

Not that I've watched the whole thing, I truly dislike many of the performances, specially rollin' & Sparkle.

Yet I agree it's better to focus in Ayu and not those complex props from AT05-08, and the entire NEXT LEVEL segment was nice

Compared to past tours, this has definitely been her weakest in years.

First of all, the entrance was really disappointing. All of the fan cams made the entrance before Rule started look so cool, but on the professional ones it just kind of looked mediocre. There was nothing really special about it and she always enters in a very epic way. Not this year. :no

The performances of Rule and UNITE! were good, but I felt that her hair really didn't match the costume very well. She reminded me a lot of Madonna or something. It sort of felt like her age was coming to the surface a bit. That's really weird too because this was before a-nation took place, right? And I didn't feel that way about her a-nation performance of Rule (or any others) at all. She must've just been off game a little bit?

I also was disappointed with the addition of all the new screens. Again, they looked cool in the fan cams and sounded cool in the fan reports, but they didn't live up to what they were hyped to be like. They did work for some performances like Rule, evolution and SIGNAL, but for others (like UNITE!) they were just awkward. :dead2

The performances of EnergizE and Sunrise were really cute, but again her hair seemed really weird. I don't know why. The live performance of EnergizE did make me hate the song less. It was much better than the version on the album. The Sunrise performance could've been a little bit louder but it was still really on par and I adore the way the audience interacts with her in that song! :D

The section with LOVE 'n' HATE and identity really disappointed me. I thought for sure that was going to be the hottest part of the concert. Sure, they tried to make it like that but it didn't really seem so to me. LOVE 'n' HATE's choreography was so weird. I really disliked it. Also, at some parts of this song it really looked like she was lip-syncing to me... identity was a much bigger disaster though... Her vocals were good, but the choreography ruined it for me. First of all, identity doesn't even seem like it should be a song with a dance, let alone one that looks like something from Dancing With The Stars. :grumpy

I was really happy to see that she decided to perform In The Corner again too! I really like that song and the choreography for it is so awesome! This is another example though of the extra screens making it look awkward though. What the heck were those strands of DNA there for? It was so random and weird... I did love this performance though. I'm also wondering if the glove she wore was supposed to be a little tribute to Michael Jackson?

For the ballads section I was so, so happy to see Maro in the video with Ayu and not Shuya. It seriously made my life. I hadn't read about that in any of the concert reports so I really wasn't expecting to see anyone but Shuya. Just like I was happy to see In The Corner performed, I was also happy to see HOPE or PAIN get another performance before being thrown back into the vault of songs that will never ever see the light of day again. haha And she didn't disappoint with vocals here. For GREEN, I really, really enjoyed the acoustic feel that it had, but I wished her vocals had been a little bit stronger. My only complaint was that the choreography didn't feature Ayu dancing with Maro. It was so weird that he was dancing with (was that) Midori(?) while Ayu was singing. And then finally, Days... It made me so mad that she brought Shuya back for this one. She continued to sound really nice though, so I'm not complaining. That pink mermaid dress was so pretty too! :luv2

And is it just me, or does Maro deserve to win best jeanist this year? :lech

I didn't have any complaints with the performances of evolution or SIGNAL. In fact, I found this portion of the concert to be one of the stronger ones. And again, love the audience interaction in evolution. I was really sick of all the dancers by this point though. She used them way, way, way too much this year. Give them a break already. It made the concert feel like it was "ayumi hamasaki and friends" and not "ayumi hamasaki." Of course, everyone works hard to put this shows together but Ayu really is supposed to be the main focal point, right? :o

I know a lot of us complain to about how she chooses to sing the same staples over and over again in each concert, but I will admit... I really was missing SURREAL and A Song for xx in this concert. I hope she brings back all the staples for CDL this year or the tour next year.

rollin' + Sparkle was pretty cool. :yes I really liked it pretty much everything about this section (costume, vocals, screens, ect...) but what the hell was up with that wig? Her hair was really strange for most of this concert. And I'll never forget the way she flailed around toward the end of Sparkle. haha I did love the way she got them to participate at the end of that song though. Can you tell that I'm really a sucker for audience interaction? I even thought it was cute when she forgot the lyrics to rollin' but I fail to understand why she used her 'cute voice' for a verse or two of that song...

The finale... NEXT LEVEL. It was nice to see her end a concert with a song like this for a change but again, I felt her age was coming to the surface a lot in this performance. I did squeal a little bit though when they showed the pictures of baby Ayu during the Bridge to the sky screen. :heart

Mmm... yeah. So I did enjoy this concert, but it really wasn't up to par with any of her concerts over the past five years or so. I really hope she comes back with a bang for CDL!

I just listened to the first 40 minutes and it's just so shocking...I can't remember her vocals ever sucking this much in the last years, she sounds like an amateur singing karaoke sometimes, it's compareable to AT02, but the band sounds amazing

she was forgot the lyric in rollin'

I hope NEXT LEVEL could be her staple song for next show. I really enjoy this LIVE and is the best Ayu's tour so far especially NEXT LEVEL although her voice bit rough so the feeling of the song faded, but the end of the show made me cry.. it was perfect show.
I cant describe by words how great the ending of NEXT LEVEL show.
and Ayu's baby llook tanned

Woah, some of you guys sound like 11-year-old-kids with a fear of sex.

"OMG NOOOESSS ayu put put her backside against shuya's...shuya's.!!!.OMG EWWW AAAAAH : ( : ("





@majrakun: Yea, I agree @ Days. This is the first time ever I found a (part of) Shuya/Ayu dance touching: when they hugged eachother at the end of Days. ^^; I was like 'awwww *_* SO CUTE : '(". Usually it's the OH NOES I CANT REACH HER. D: thing lol. Actually, "usually"? Isn't this the first time ever they find eachother like this at the end of a song/ballad?

well... i thought rollin dance....little bit look a like chulip dance from ai otsuka...its so unique...XD
BUT!! i love the nex level stage!!! its awesome!

and i want hear again n again sunrise ~next level tour remix version~ ! ^&^

I watched Rule, UNITE!, evolution, SIGNAL, rollin', Sparkle. Everything is nice! The stage is just wow. I like it better than the full screen stage in 2006

lol that was actually my favorite part of the performance. ayu never usually goes that far with being sexy, i was surprised and was looking at her in a totally different way during that performance. :innocent
i much prefer her to have performances like that then the cutesy ones. :yes

Hahaha, I was slightly shocked, but then I already saw a photo of it before, so I wasn't THAT shocked. XD It was hawt, dammit. Their faces were so close, so so close~ O: I think that was my most watched performance in this tour, for various reasons. :P

I wondered who choreographed it. For some reason, I saw hints of Shuya's ballad solo movements, but it felt more suitable since it was rock-ish. And with his solos choreographed by Maro, well hahaha.

Ever since a-nation 07, this is definitely the first time. Trust me, I've been keeping track. XD It's usually either Shuya dies, falls off the stairs, pulled into an abyss, comes from a different time or just simply can't see each other blablabla. I think they wanted us to think this was just "one of those ballads" when both of them walked away from each other, until he turned around at the last second <3 So okay, happy ending already. Now stop it, but keep Maro and Midoring together :D

I really enjoyed the concert. identity is probably my favorite performance. I loved what I could see of all the special screens, especially LotS/disco-munication/Bridge to the sky (I love how they went through all of the pictures of Ayu through the years, all the way to when she was a baby! SO CUTE!)
The vocals were actually pretty good compared to recent years. I am happy with this concert overall. But I do agree about In The Corner being out of place. Maybe if the performance was changed up a bit, but it's pretty much the same as last years, so I don't see the reason for it. I wish I could own this DVD...being broke is really frustrating. =/

That's so like you to keep track of that XD Hahaha!

But I agree, it was so sweet when they hugged at the end TwT!

I've always loved Shuya, so I always liked it when he was around doing the scenes with Ayu. But ever since Maro arrived, my heart skips a beat everytime he's there!

I wish she'd start including Maro more now though. The scene in between with Ayu and Maro, where they're just walking (and he's got his white shirt opened!!!!) was so beautiful!

after finish watching this whole show,i must say that this is much more better than AT08.
the lighting effect,the big screen animation,the band.everything is perfect.
maybe because she move the band to the side.this makes the whole stage look soooo big and this makes herself look smaller :P
i love identity,rollin' ,rule,days and unite alot..my favourite performance is definitely identity.thumbs up,ayu :D

It was entertaining, but not great. Very average I think. SIGNAL was the highlight for me. I did not like many of the costumes or choreography. I did like the stage though.

Ok, here are my basic thoughts.

The positive was I liked all the screens and many of the costumes were not as horrific as they looked in the pictures. Some of the performances were really fun and I ended up liking a few of the Next Level songs more than I did before. The Discomunication video was also really cute. I liked Energize and Sunrise, even though it was lip synched.

However, overall, I would rate this as my least favorite tour from her.

She definitely lip synched in this concert more than any other tour it seems - maybe around the same level as PCDL. Either that or they edited it a lot for broadcast, but if that is the case wouldn't they have edited every song? But they didn't.

But what is most unfortunate was that at the parts that were live, she was not very good. Even easy things like the verses of Unite, she was clearly struggling with a lot. Also, I really wish she would cut back on using the dancers so much all the time.

Oh and one more thing: Her boobs! lol. All throughout Rule and Unite I kept thinking "boobs Hamasaki" haha. I paid more attention to her boobs than the stage, the song, the singing, the dancing, anything - haha. And really, shouldn't you want your audience to focus on those kinds of things instead?

^ Would you tell me which songs you think were playback?(maybe per PM, so theres no fight in this thread)
I actually didn't think it were that many, but I only listened to it so far and not even to the complete concert so...I can't really say so far

But I have to agree about her horrid vocals, her vocals, even when bad, never were a real turnoff from the concert for me, but now they are...

Overall this concert was okay... it could have been better.
I really hated the Day and Green performance. I think she sounded horrible and was being way to dramatic in the performance. I am slowly starting to not like any of her performance where she those dose fake crying etc.. But the good part of the concert is where she performed signal. It was nice to hear the full version of it live. I actually liked her energize and Sunrise performance.

i was really amazed when i saw the concert yesterday *0*
there was only one song that i skipped (SIGNAL, coz i don't like it ...)
I LOOOOOOOVE the video and the long version of Load of the SHUGYO ! <3<3<3<3<3
NEXT LEVEL is also moving i find...
But the only black point i see, it's the performance of rollin': i LOVE this song, but here Ayu turned this song into a kawaii-style song (even worst than ANGEL'S SONG or so on...); i guess that such a song don't deserve it :( maybe i'm too flat, but i'm simply disappointed...
and the NO NO NO of Sparkle ran through my head all night and day long !.. x___X

Well, i'm looking forward for the DVD, i think i'll buy it. Probably one of her most well-made concert, but not even better than AT08 XP

I was really impressed! I expected this to be really bad, but I actually really enjoyed it.

I loved the stairs on the stage, I loved the WHOLE stage it was so colourful and amazing. I didn't like the performance much, but the rainbow stairs in EnergizE were spectacular, I loved it. The costume here was hideous though, it was just not good at all.

My favourite performance was identity, which surprised me because I don't like the song or her sexy performances much - but the stage was amazing here! I also really disliked the bottom half for the LnH/identity costume too - that skirt was terrible. On the plus side, I love the top half!

I think this is her weakest tour so far...

Although this concert is TV-Version, we know that the final one will be outstanding because of all arrangements their staff make. Eg: camera angles, audience sounds and Ayu´s voice.

One thing that I´m very dissapointed with is the fact that the stage and the effects are not the "wonderful" ones Ayu used to have... Not to mention the screen when she is performing... They are not the best...

I remember in AT 2005 the final part of the main show, Ayu had the water and the lights and bla bla bla..., in AT 2006 the stage in which Ayu performed Bold and Delicious... That was AMAZING!!!... In At 2007 the ENORMOUS hearts full of lights in the middle of the stage... I just LOVE IT and in AT 2008 the HUGE AND FABULOUS BOAT WHERE SHE SANG MIRRORCLE WORLD!!!... I died when I watched it for the first time... And I´m still doing it!!....

... And now she only has... A CHAIR????!!!!... WTF!!!! What happened??!!... C´mon Ayu!! Your staff can do better than that....

Just that... I hope than the next tour will be better than this...

I thought the chair was rather symbolic. In Bridge to the Sky, the photo album that had all her photos since she was a baby until now rests on that chair. It's where she reminiscs about her past and sees how far she has gone. And like Deli said, she's found a place where she belongs.

I just finish seeing the whole concert and i just have to say, its what i expect from her now on days, the same themes over and over every single year. getting tired of that and "days" one of my fav songs by ayu was turn into another shuya ballad..... it really pissed me off.

i rate the concert a 5.5/10

I`m sorry, but the themes weren`t the same of the latest years... the bdsm ninjas weren`t used before... neither was the video game chearleader... Ayu and Shuiya were on a couple argument on identity, what isn`t somehting she touched before... and so on....

^ Well, I think you could say that at the very least they are all extremely similar to things she has done before. It's more like she keeps using the exact same format and then just slightly changes some of the themes. I'm not offering any suggestions right now for how she could do it better, I just know that after so many years of this, it does start to get tiring.

finished watching and ... sad to say but I couldnt watch how she's struggling while singing.
In days and green it seemed like she cant breathe nor talk. :/ Im worried.
Ive seen somebody here said her vocals are geting worse every year and I have to agree with that. Thats too bad.

I liked costumes, it didnt look as bad as in the pictures, I liked NEXT LEVEL performance, that was touching and sweet. And I like how she seemed to have a lot of fun.

But I cant get away of the feeling that it could've been better and how her voice is weak.

I think that's more of a problem with the viewer than ayu herself if that's the case, especially considering the technological upgrade they got for this tour compared to her past ones.

which HOPE or PAIN performance you guys prefer?
PCDL or AT09?
i personally prefer PCDL

She was crying when she sang Days that´s why she sounds weird... I really love this performance!

^ and it wasn't fake crying. She really got emotional and it made me cry too while I was there... I thought it was very beautiful.

it's because that was her idea for this tour, to not have all those props and stuff. i'm pretty sure her next tour will be back to all of that, but in this interview she explains about it.

i don't really get the people complaining so much about her voice, did you not hear AT08? that was probably vocally her worst tour ever, her voice was so much better than that in this tour, imo. although it is still weak, it's not as offensive as it was in AT08, and there was no "Dearest" moment. so i consider it an upgrade.

i prefer the one in this tour, because there were parts where it sounded like she was going to cry and it was more emotional than at PCDL. it actually made me like the song a bit :P

^ the only performances I consider to be worse in terms of vocals from AT08 are SURREAL~evolution~SURREAL, Dearest and Voyage. However in this tour, theres not a single song that's NOT bad.

srsly? well i disagree. i only consider a few performances in this tour to be hard on the ears, but the whole AT08 was extremely bad to me in terms of vocals. i guess i just prefer a little screaming to a mind-shattering vibrato

Okay I shall give my thoughts based on what I've seen so far...

Let me start off by commending Ayu on the screens. They're really beautiful and well executed throughout the concert.

Pieces of SEVEN: Well, cool intro, nice screens... and that's all I guess.

Rule: I kinda expected too much from this I guess. It wasn't as epic as I thought it would be... the a pacella felt kinda forced, or done just for the sake of it, unlike t2m last year, or ASFxx in A Museum if you get what I mean... I can't get over how she sang the song either. I mean I never liked how she did Rule live but that's just me I guess~ Overall her boobs were way too squeezed and the newer hair is SO COOL and thank God the outfit wasn't as hideous as in the photos.

UNITE!: Ha, the verses sounded slurry and lazy, like she had a flu then suddenly the chorus sounded okay. Hmm... I missed doing the hand movements anyway, so it was a good thing to find myself doing it again lol.

Disco-munication: oh my God. this video is so awesome! It's overloading with cuteness... and I love the whole GameBoy set up... it's just so cute!

EnergizE: well I shan't say much about playback/lipsync just that it was pretty obvious~ Ayu looks really sexy and it was a cute performance.

Sunrise: I actually preferred this to be an encore song, but it was okay for me.

Load of the SHUGYO: HOT video. like really hot. Ayu looked hot as well, and I liked it a lot.

LOVE 'n' HATE: Bleh. Boring. Disappointment. It felt like... they wanted to dance but didn't really dance. What's the point of having dancers when they're just prance around the stage and put their hands all over Ayu? But her counting was whoa hot.

identity: :rolleyes I always liked this song; felt it was cool and all. BUT THIS PERFORMANCE, EEW! How on earth did a rock song about yourself turn into some... couple love game??? I like Shu-ya a lot thank you very much, but I felt his presence in the stage was so redundant, it kinda ruined everything...

In The Corner: Finally, something cool. The lights were fantastic, and I loved the glow sticks and all their formation. <3

GREEN: ... some parts were really good, like when she punched the air/ground in the second chorus, it felt really good, and her vocals were great here as well. But ugh too much fake crying and some of her movements were just awkward and stupid...

Days: best performance from the concert thus far. Real emotions, good vocals, perfect everything. My whole body was shivering throughout cos she really touched me... I love this song, and I love this performance. I still remember how she sang this in PCDL... this time it was so much better.

I don't want to sound rude or whatever but yeah... so far the only performances I liked were EnergizE, In The Corner and Days. The rest were kinda meh, especially the "rock" section, which was a major disappointment...

Well, and what else can she do? Having lions and gorillas on the stage while she sings? She could make the segments longer, but people would complain that she didn't have enough outfits (just like this tour, people are complaining that she didn't had props, as the props should be the focus of the performances)

I hope it doesn't sound like "omg, everyone keep complaining everytime, why don't u do something better?!" or any bs like that, but there is nothing she can do that will have no complains at all... If she does something new, people will complain that she changed and it's not as good as she was... if she does what people liked before, the complains will be about how much she repeats herself... I can see some people around here stoping being fans of her in some time, cuz they want something she can't deliver... It doesn't matter what she do, she will never be as fresh and new as she was when she was... well... fresh and new. Her career is more than 10 years old, even if she releases something totally different from whatever she done before, it will not be totally fresh cuz she is an old artist, and a huge amount of her fans will complain. But in the end, it's not her fault (and not her fans fault cuz it's not like they must like everything she does)

I think having the props would have been much better, since it would have forced her to make the tour a little more theatrical.

Which...is good...because she probably would have had a very nice balance between the theatrical side, and the "live"/effects side...if that makes sense.


And honestly...I don't really care how "fresh and new" she is. She's Ayumi Hamasaki. And her dedication alone, that she herself, chooses to portray, should be enough for us to expect a lot of her.

I know it's annoying when some people always say this or that...but the truth is, you can't keep repeating yourself even if it was great and people liked it...nor can you do new stuff that's crappy.

And that's one of the challenges every artist (painters, drafters, musicians, etc) faces.

I really loved this. For me, it was visually pretty freaking great so I really don't get where you complainers are coming from :thud Okay. She didn't have a huge ship or something on the stage. So?

I think the screens, outfits, lasers, lights, stage, little props and everything were just amazing and maybe even better than ever imo! I also felt that her connection with the audience was really strong. I loved the Rule bg screens! The identity and LOVE 'n' HATE performances were surprisingly intense, which was great. The ballad section was very simple but pretty. The rollin' & Sparkle performances were so funny and full of energy! :laugh The NEXT LEVEL one must be one of the prettiest performances ever.. :luv2 I agree with what DeliriumZero said.

I know you all have heard that sometimes less is just so much more. :P I love pretty much every tour and concert of hers, AT2008 was amazing and AT2009 was amazing - both in their own ways. Can't help it though if you don't like this/them, that's just your loss and of course Ayu cannot please everybody. :shrug

Couldn't have said it better myself! :) Mostly because I haven't seen more than rollin' and Sparkle xD; But I always feel a true artist shouldn't need to rely on props to bring forth a great performance. I'm glad this concert was more focused on her performing than on a boat or her flying in the air in a ball. :laugh I can't wait to see the full concert when it's released :D

All artists repeats themselves everytime... All of them have their favorite themes and techniques, and those will come over and over again over the years... There is no artist that produce totally different pieces everytime they releases something... this "reapting" is what makes an artist production as a whole unique. The characteristics of her arragments, melodies, lyrics and concerts, and the way she uses them... this makes Ayu's work different from random pop stars that doesn't really have an personal style. Is it tiring? Sure... Can it be helped? Sorry, but it can't... And that's different from stopping on an a era and releasing material that is all alike, what sorry, but she isn't doing... Next Level songs wouldn't fit Duty, I am songs wouldn't fit (miss)understood

The only thing she could do to help her about that would be releasing less stuff so her material would get old slower, but other than that...

As for me, this is my thoughts based on what I've seen so far...



Between AT08 and AT09, it seems they have a bit similarity if i compared this:
Just my opinion, AT09 is better, NEXT LEVEL has many interludes as GUILTY did, i think they made that because of the concerts, a lot of interludes were use during the break, maybe to made the concerts theme flows smoothly as the screen story, but i don't now the true reason yet.

[QUOTE=mellody;2174832]As for me, this is my thoughts based on what I've seen so far...
Disco-munication + EnergizE: Nice and Cute screens, and for the performance itself still cannot beat HONEY in AT05 i think, but still good enough, the choreography also very good!
Yes.Its cute when the dancers showing "Ayu : No.1" with the pom pom :love
identity: At first, i was hoping very much from one of my favorite song in NEXT LEVEL, this song, identity, wonders about choreography and such, but in the end, Ayu x Shu-ya duet? I'm sick of these, even though the performance and her voice are not bad. I'm a bit disappointed after see this performance. No clapping from the audience when the interludes playing too.
i beg to differ.I think its nice.I didn't read the lyric (yes.i don't read the lyrics)
I love how they are like a lovely couple and then,ayu is like hate shuya and shuya is kinda fed up with her and so on.i love this 'drama' but it kinda wastes at the end there when ayu is dancing and walking around shuya .she's like don't know what to do next and keep on walking with her hand waving here and there
Days: I love this song and performance very well, perfect expression and emotion at the same time, nothing much to say anymore~ Very good Indeed! Btw, during short break between GREEN and Days, her costume changed into Pink, doesn't that really fast?
Maybe she wears 2 clothes at the same time?
yeah.i think she just take off her big big jacket.
rollin':The break were short, but they changed that fast? It's all the dancers and Ayu herself changed that fast?
They just wear a jacket when the lights are dimmed.Its very obvious that you can see the shirt they wore for the previous song

I watched this last night and I enjoyed it. It was missing the bells and whistles of her last few arena tours though. Hardly any stage props, relied a lot on dancing for entertainment. Did it work?

Rule - Love the way she enters. She looks hot in that leather outfit.

UNITE! - Heard it so many times before, nothing special but a great concert staple. Gets the crowd fired up at the right time.

Disco-munication: Oh my god, best Ayu concert video ever? I can't wait to see this on the DVD.

Energize - The obvious lip syncing kinda turns me off this performance. It's still fun though.

Sunrise ~Love is All~ - Unusually loud cheer for this song, must be popular among Ayu fans? Plain performance, but fun.

Load of the SHUGYO - The video is awesome, once again. Love the little twist when Shuya escapes.

LOVE 'n' HATE - This is the song which could have used an awesome stage prop to liven up the performance, like with (don't) leave me alone. But it ends up being bland. Ayu's done peformances like this so many times before, when the dancers throw themselves on her and she "rejects" them, without it really going anywhere. Vocally, really good though. Loved the counting.

Identity - I like that this performance involved her band more, and the choreography was pretty cool. Awesome vocals too.

In The Corner - A little improvement on the PCDL performance. I love this song, so it was great to hear it live again.

HOPE or PAIN - The performance of the concert for me. The last minute gave me goosebumps. I loved the PCDL performance of this too though, but they managed to re-create the whole live for the Arena Tour. There's so much emotion in Ayu's voice. Love the ending.

GREEN - Way too plain of a performance compared to PCDL. Didn't really enjoy this except for the end when the dancers came back.

Days - Another really big cheer from the crowd as it starts. And a surprisingly good performance, the ending is sweet. Another highlight of the concert for me.

evolution - Another decent performance of the song. But I really liked how she opened AT07 with this song, and she hasn't managed to match that performance of the song since.

SIGNAL - Fun, lots of energy. Her voice soars with this song, which is weird as its one of her oldest.

rollin' - the LOL performance of the concert to me. I can't help but love the dancing. It's so good. <3 Ayu's thrusting while singing the song made me laugh too. I think Ayu really likes this song, it seems to be the one she enjoyed performing the most.

Sparkle - The live of this song, I imagined that it would be something amazing and mindblowing because its such a powerful song. But it ends up being very plain, but still enjoyable. I like the "no no no's" from the crowd and the no no no dance as well the crowd was copying. Another song Ayu seems to love performing, I think she's very proud of this song. She knows its one of her best.

Bridge to the Sky - I like how the backup singers are singing this song instead of the usual playover of the interludes. The video is eh until you realise how it connects with NEXT LEVEL, which then it becomes a nice video.

NEXT LEVEL - I love the start, how she comes up looking at the chair sitting up top. Just a fantastic performance to end the main concert.

----------
So overall - while its more plain than her last few years of concerts, Ayu still manages to put on a top show. Only disappointments are a few songs that I expected bigger performances from.

Her vocals really are no good. It's a shame, but I suppose I have to get used to this from now on. I'm not trying to put her down--it's just a sad reality when a person has gone deaf in one ear and has beaten her vocal chords into submission over the years. She sounds almost like she's choking on her voice sometimes.

I liked the stage and the nifty lighting effects, but overall I feel like the show was just...kind of uninspired? The choreography half the time was wack, the costumes were meh, and there weren't really many creative performances except In The Corner and Next Level. Next Level was probably where the concert peaked....I can only imagine how awesome it was to experience live. She must have looked like an angel floating up to heaven!

The best thing about this concert to me was how happy Ayu looked. She truly seemed to be having a good time. But I guess, the bottom line is, that alone is not enough to make me want to sit and watch a concert.

Haha, I can relate to this. That costume was very distracting from the performances. Its one of her best I think, makes her look good. On the other hand, that In The Corner outfit looked stupid. I liked the rollin'/sparkle outfit, it fits with the electro-vibe of the songs.

I just read through the thread:
- I think EnergizE and Sunrise were lipsynched. Even though she revved the crowd up during Sunrise, they would have turned on her microphone for that portion and then turned it off when the lyric sections came.
- Sparkle doesn't sound lipsynched to me. You can tell she concentrates on hitting the notes in this performance.
- Shuya sux. I like that they used the other dancer during the ballad section. But Ayu's non-involvement in the GREEN choreography was weird. I think it was just like because this tour was rushed, and having Ayu do as little choreography as possible made it easier for her to learn the steps before the first shows. And it stayed that way throughout.
- I didn't think Ayu's voice was that bad. She's sung worse. It's not perfect, but it held up where it needed to.

I'm about mid show, I'm here to leave some comments in the form of how I've been ranting about it on MSN, the other half of the show won't NEARLY be as detailed, but whatever.

This is unedited, so, be warned weary of heart


The other review will be more general, cause everyone I've been ranting too went to bed...

That's it, that's what i thought so far, sadly enough...
I didn't realize that :laugh
Thanks for pointing that out~
Gotta watch it again!

Sparkle could be a stable song, Ayu didn't teach the choreography, am i right?
But the audience suddenly follow them, it means that something special here, i think.

I haven't watched Days yet, but I LOVE that HOPE or PAIN and GREEN have a story to them instead of just being Ayu pining over on of her male dancers(Shuya) as he writhes.

as expected, Days comes in to spoil the no Shuya party.

GO BACK TO THE MARO(?) AND MIDORI(?) ROMANCE STORY PLEASE, it's much more interesting then anything Days had to offer

GOD can those two just get a room already, I hate the sexual tensionq

grace's review wins for lol

ayu does sluutty dancing in identity

after the ballad's the rest of the concert is nothing to write home about lol. rollin' was Ayu rips off meets Lady Gaga, Sparkle was total lipsynch meets+SHUT UP, WHEN I SAY "NO NO NO" IT MEANS "NO NO NO MORE OF THIS", evolution=if you've heard it once... but again, it's gotta be totally fun if you're there <3

SIGNAL was really cool though. I've always loved her songs from ASFxx, I just can't stand listening to them because her voice and the arrangement are truly dreadful. The modernized SIGNAL she sings here is great <3

Bridge to the sky, loved the pictures, too much focus on Yochan, Enrique, Peco and Princess aka people who don't matter. I want to see the pictures, watching these idiots isn't entertaining it's painful. And back to what I was saying earlier, who DRESSES these people and WHO says that what they're wearing is ever good.

NEXT LEVEL however, proves to me that Ayu works VERY hard to make sure that EVERYONE ELSE on stage is in worse costumes then she is. With this tour, NOT an easy task considering LOVE'n'HATE/identity had the one good costume. But she manages to come out glammed up with gems, and lets her dancers dance around in white potato sacks. Good to see the wealth hasn't gone to your head sweetie.

as much as I tear it apart, I actually had a good time watching this concert <3 I just like tearing my Ayu apart, because, let's face it, she's kinda like a hot train wreck :3

I finally had the chance to watch the whole tour start to finish for more than 30 minutes ~yey~.

First...I have definite problems with...

1. Too many damn interludes/videos. Like after EVERY song nearly. Was really boring...especially since some of them werent really that great.

2. Set list. Tour suffered because of this list imo. Mostly because of the order/style of the performances...maybe thats why she felt she needed so many interludes. Who knows.

3. Dancers. Just ew. You know how many times I wanted to push Shuya off stage? Yeah.


However, I think this tour had some great redeeming points. Interestingly enough, my favorite performance was GREEN...and I actually think it was the best one. No fuss, just Ayu, singing, and singing well. Slight hand gestures reminiscent of the drama. And it was beautiful. A really fantastic performance.

I also think that the concert after GREEN was a hell of a lot better than the one before it. I didn't really care for any of the performances before it, they were all really boring and needed more theater to save them.

She butchered Hope and Pain though. And with this copy of hanabi from stadium tour performance...ew. This song does not need a big ballad's performance to convey it's drama. It needs more of a story performance.

So yeah...the concert after GREEN is fantastic. Even Day's with it's CAROLS AT05 repeat wasnt that bad...until she started crying...but I ignored it lol There also werent so many interludes after GREEN, thank god.

SIGNAL was great. I almost cried with NEXT LEVEL...but that's just because thats MY song lol

So...I'm gonna pretend like the first half didnt happen...and give this tour a Fantastic rating...an 8/10...and I really like it :)

^I thought just the opposite lol I thought the preGREEN concert was great, and after GREEN it went to hell.

I must repeat, because it's like my favorite part, I LOVED how in HOPE or PAIN and GREEN instead of having Ayu play the "female lead" in the "love story" she was just singing, and let her dancers tell the story of her music. It was so much more moving then ShuyaFlails and Ayu fake tears.

That and I think Maro is very hot, so any excuse for him to be on stage (especially in what he was wearing, oh my god <3), is worth it fo rme

I think we just have differing tastes lol

I did think Rule was good though. Solid performance...but energize and sunrise or sunset whatever totally dead...

I couldnt respect the dancers together....because Piccolo pointed out that the performance was so strikingly similar to Hanabi at stadium tour in 2002, and he kept going on about it the whole performance...and it really was similar, except that hanabi was a lot better.

and the interludes really really killed it for me...even the cute one like discommunication...

I was soo BORED lol

I think the reason I liked GREEN so much...was that it reminded me of like...it seemed like a perfect TV performance or something...or like a perfect old days Kouhaku performance...when it was just her on the stage, in her dress, singing beautifully.



And then I tihnk the reason why I liked the tour after that, was that imo, the songs after went a lot better with the simpler stage...

I know it's sort of ridiculous to think that, but imo, NEXT LEVEL has a simpler stage lol

(sorry my posts are so long)

I actually think it was one of her best setlists, because she performed every single song off NEXT LEVEL. Its about time, on a tour promoting her latest album, she doesn't leave songs out.

I might be a bit biased though since next level might be my favourite ayumi album. I like electroayu <3

No no, I don't really mind the songs she chose, mostly the order of them and where she chose to put stuff...I just...found it sort of odd for some reason...

Nothing seemed to flow well...and there were hardly any performances that could lead into another for continuous performing lol

(which is just less boring imo)

You know I probably screamed louder than half the audience all together when that came on. Lmao And the interlude where he's got his shirt open... yeah I was drooling all over the freaking place. I didn't stop screaming his name during SIGNAL when he danced, I clearly saw the dude sitting next to me, his face was like "STFU!!" lmao

I think she tried too hard to re-arrange the setlist so it wasn't just playing Next Level from start to finish, but the songs flow better in the order the album is in. But she still kept the same concepts - load of the shugyo before love 'n' hate, disco-munication before energize, bridge to the sky before next level.