It was good, but it wasn't her best. The dancers were SO overused, that they ended up throwing off a lot of the performances. Plus, their costuming was...@_@...I half-expected them to break out into West Side Story. The stage pieces weren't all that great either.
Ayu, on the other hand, was fabulous. Her vocals were the best I've heard on a live broadcast and, while she flubbed some of the lyrics, she didn't let that mess her up (except for
Boys and Girls).
do it again was a nice song to open with, but the visuals just didn't do it for me. I usually LOVE masquerade themed things, but there seemed to be no coherent story going on in this one, nor was it visually enthralling enough to stand alone as something purely visual w/o the need of a narrative. Her furry dress thing was not to my taste, and her vocals were my least favorite of the night (which says good things about the rest of the CDL)
Happening Here: I'm going to start by saying that I'm not a super-huge fan of remakes, so this was probably my least favorite song choice; I wish that she would have used one of her own upbeat, fun songs instead. That aside, this was a surprisingly fun performance, and I loved her dress. Her vocals sounded good too.
Moon-
fated: Starring Maro as the cheating scumbag, and Ayu as the delusional other woman! The lyrics to both of these songs are so touching and sad, but it was hard for me to muster up any sympathy for the characters of this story; it seemed more pathetic than sad. And those beds! :headdesk: Ugh; I was not a fan. There was one part where Maro was sort of straddling the beds with his butt was sticking up in the air; it looked really odd. And then, the other dancers. WHY did the black-clad dancers have to come out during fated? And what the heck was up with the rose pedals at the end?? Luckily, though, the vocals for both songs were good, so at least everything sounded pretty.
NEVER EVER-
sending mail: of all the songs I thought she would sound bad on, it would have been these two, but she sounded really nice! Her dress was pretty, too, though perhaps NOT the best thing to be wearing while performing sitting down. It was riding up like crazy. My only qualm, again, is what on earth was up with the dancers? Their choreography had nothing to do with the lyrics of either song. Had I not known the lyrics already, I would have thought both songs were about really bad breakups. I mean, when the female dancers were fighting to get in the door to their respective male dancer, it looked like the gold-clad male dancer pushed his partner out the door by the throat! It was pretty confusing.
Sparkle Ayu's lounging wasn't as bad as I thought but I didn't like how she played second-fiddle to her dancers. Her vocals were good, and I loved her costume!
Humming 7/4-
evolution Not much to say about these two. They were both fun, she sounded good, and I was happy to see Yoshio and Enrique come out of hiding
RAINBOW(COUNTDOWN) what a perfect, PERFECT song to use for the countdown this year. And I'm not just saying that because it's one of my favorite songs by her. The lyrics make this song such a sweet, touching song to end the old year and welcome in the new year on and her speech almost made me cry. She sounded lovely, except for the end, but I think she was crying during those last few lines. If I block out the dancers and their sheets (seriously?!), this was the performance of the night.
NovemberOne of the songs I was most looking forward to, but I was a little disappointed with it. Her vocals weren't as strong, and she seemed to be plowing through the lyrics. Part of that could be because this song needs a lot of vocal control when it comes to dynamics, and she's not the best at that. For whatever reason, the performance seemed to lack the intimacy of the song. Part of that could also be Shuya. Aaaahhh, the return of Shuya flailing! This, of all songs, should have been the song were just Ayu performed; then everything, the walking, the fountains, would have made this performance exquisite, but Shuya flailing with a pained expression just brought it down so much. Plus - again - had I not known the lyrics of the song, I would have thought this was a breakup song due to Shuya's expressions and choreography.
Party queen~Happening Here Party queen is going to have to grow on me, but, as long as the lyrics are on par, I'm sure I'll be wailing "I am the PARTY QUEEEEEEEEEEN!" in my car one of these days
But, it was cool to hear a new song during a live.
Love song I...don't really remember too much about this performance. It felt kind of off and didn't really fit, coming right after Party queen~Happening Here. Again, there seemed to be a disconnect with the lyrics and what was going on onstage.
how beautiful you are Hands down my favorite performance of the night. No dancers, b/g singers highlighted but still in the background, just Ayu singing beautifully. THIS is what RAINBOW and November and Love song should have been.
Trauma-Boys&Girls Fun, nice to sing along to.
MY ALL I would die of happiness if she ended a concert with who... again, but this is a nice song to end on.
Overall, I thought it was fun, but not as good as past CDLs. The dancers were just...I know I'm harping on them a lot, but, for CDL 09-10, RnRC, and CDL 10-11, they were used WELL, so it was disappointing to see Ayu go back to overusing them to the point of obnoxiousness. Plus, the choreography wasn't that great: half the time what they were doing didn't relate to the song at all. And the clowns... Also, there weren't really any visually awesome sets (ala I Am..) or good narratives (ala last year's Free & Easy or 09-10's Pride), and no Ayu alone (09-10's You were...) or Ayu with band (09-10's About You, last year's is this LOVE?). The stage just seemed to be...there.
Ayu's vocals, though, I was so surprised, they sounded so nice! And I love the four background singers. They blend together so well and it's neat to hear male vocals on these songs. And Timmy is awesome. He was a great performer and his MC was so cute! And, yay for Yoshio doing the MC!!! (Side note: I loved the A's before the encore! My favorites were the soccer one (Congrats again, Japan!), and the headbanging Enrique and Yoshio
)
This was my first live concert (albeit through UStream), and I really enjoyed it. It was fun to watch it live, fun to dance along to TRAUMA and evolution, fun to hear her shout out to everybody watching on Ustream. It was fun to sing along and know that people in the audience were doing the exact same thing at that moment. I hope she continues to use Ustream, because this was really fun.