What consitutes a good concert?

[waterballoon]

Hey there, I've just watched Madonna's Confessions Tour (I know, I'm late by 3 years. ), and I instantly watched a random Ayu concert after that (which was AT 06).

And well, I really love both concerts, but I can't help but be blown away by how different they are.

So, which sort of concert would YOU prefer? Let me break it down...

Madonna
- A lot of focus on Madonna herself.
- Her dancers are most of the time used to convey the emotion that the song has. Like in Forbidden Love, she got her male dancers to do this cool dance to show that they can't be together.. and then in Sorry her female dancers get all punk to convey the wrath in the song.
- Madonna does like everything. Singing, playing the guitar and dancing.
- And oh, there were a lot of F-words appearing around the middle of the concert, while she was singing I Love New York.

Ayu
- As we know, the focus is on Ayu and dancers and band.
- Her dances are most of the time used to accompany her, but they're also used to convey emotions... just that I think Ayu uses her dancers in a very different way.
- Interesting interlude videos. You don't know how distracting is to see HORSES in the videos shown when Madonna sings Future Lovers.
- Ayu only does ONE thing. And that is singing. There are times when she "dances", but whatever it's not as sick (as in terrific) as Madonna, so I just see it has moving-along to the songs.


So they are both good concerts, and Madonna and Ayu are both such amazing artistes that I really love them.

Also, I don't know why I did this thread.

[chloeM]

This is one good thread... maybe you wanted people to give opinions...

in my opinion, i watch her concerts mainly because of ayu.... and what constitutes a good concert? Dancing and dramas of course~!

i like how ayu poll danced in AT07 and how she did with her pitch in the beginning of kiss o' kill

and if you watch... when ayu introduced her band members, and when it reached to Peco, Yo-chan was like avoiding her.... It's was hilarious...

oh and by the way... i didn't watch the madonna concert~

[Andrenekoi]

I only disagree about the "ayu only sings"... the girl for sure don't dance, but she acts a lot...

To me, they both have a concert in the same category: They try to comunicate to people using the songs, choreography, acting and visuals... it's like... stage musical meets popstars

But I think that while Madonna really is the center (but her dancers and bandmember does has a good space to show off too) and is kind of a superwoman, in Ayu concerts, she concentrates in what she does the best (singing and acting) and let everyone on her staff doing the same...

In the end, both choices are hard... you need lots of practice to do everything Madonna does on her shows, and maybe she could not do that when she was younger 'cause it demands some skill in a lot of different areas, what demands time...

In Ayu's case, if she didn't have enough stage presence or if she wasn't good on what she was doing, it would be VERY easy to be outshined by her band and dancers... And she never is IMO

In the end, IMO, you are asking me to choose between the best pop performer in Asia and the mother of all this kind of performaces xD I prefer Ayu (she is one of my top3 pop performers alive in the world), but Madonna is REALLY amazing (top5)

By the way, I have seen all of ayu's concert dvds minus TA live and countdowns 00-01, 01-02 and 02-03

And I watched all of madonna's concert dvds minus Like a Virgin tour :B

[pommy48]

haha i'll break the trend and not double post

i do love ayu's concerts cause she act so much~ like marionette, that's not just singing~

[Lady_Eowyn]

Pommy, you change your sig almost everyday... :O

Well... a good concert to me is one where the artist puts all his/her/their emotion in the songs they perform. doesn't matter if they play their instruments, sing and dance, as long they do their thing with all their hearts. You can see when someone feels forced to do something live just to get the check. Previous training also helps a lot and the interaction with the public is also very important. That's what makes a good concert in my opinion.

Oh, and props to Madonna for doing so much... singing, dancing and playing the guitar...

[pommy48]

haha yeah i do XD

but what matters in a concert for me isn't the vocal ability, cause someone can sing this amazing song, but if they don't portray emotions and put their heart out showing you how hard they worked for it, well i would probably be bored to sleep already

i think emotions for me is what separate a good concert from a bad one, cause when i see ayu really emotional or on the verge of crying, that just reminds me that she's not just this amazing artist, this million record selling artist, it reminds me that she like me is a person, a person who have her happy and sad times, the emotions just make a concert personal for me, not sure if you guys might get what i'm saying here @_@

[ownsarai]

^She had to change her set, I made it for her as a present.
Anyhow.
Both Madonna & Ayu are great artists and their concerts are amazing. But I have to say, for me, Ayu is the more enjoyable of the 2. I love the emotion she conveys in her performances, and her little intro movies are always interesting.

[PEARL]

i love Ayu's concert the best.
She really can show us the meaning of the song..
her emotion..
her interludes ~~~

Although Madonna is all rounded..
'can play instrument , sing , dance'

[C+R+E+AYUMI]

what makes a live a great live...mmhh

I love Ayu's concerts because she does one thing, she sings..scenographies and background are never too garish and let the people be the main focus..from the other side I don't adore Ayu's costumes but, generally, japanese artists ones, and the fact that dancers a lot of times become the main characters of the scene...

On july i'm going to enjoy Madonna's concert too..honestly everything in Madonna is too fake to me, too much built up and over thought..anyway, thanks to my husband work it's for free so i'll partecipate anyway!

[mcluva420]

i never knew madonna plays guitar xD
i think ayu is more emotional, but madonna has more stage prescence and dances better

[alternarist]

i feel that for a concert to be good,

there must not me any moment that the audience is bored. So there must be somethings to capture the attention of the audience.

Visual effects, stage and props are important to me. If a singer is just going to wear mini skirt to sing while standing, then it really bores me to death.

Of cos, vocals play a big part.

So far for ayu, only AT05 and AT06 managed to really WOW me and knock my socks off.

AT07 was average but M was pretty boring.

AT08, i skip the performance for Depend on You, Fly high and decision. YAWNZ~

[love in music]

basically what ownsarai and pommy said. ayu is definitely one of the best performers in my opinion because of the emotion she puts into her performances. not just sad emotions but when she's happy she looks genuinely happy and not just like she's putting on a show and faking it for the crowd. i get that vibe from other performers such as koda kumi or namie amuro, their happiness/sadness seems forced. the things they have that make their concerts good are their voices and that they have a better range than ayu, and sometimes have complicated dances. i get no real emotion from their performances and feel less connected to them. so what makes a good concert for me is that the person honestly looks like they're enjoying themselves and doing their best and just being REAL - special effects and good outfits are just a plus.

[noidea]

Though Madonnas concerts are very spectacular, I prefer Ayus, the reasons?
a) Ayu is not perfect/doesnt seem perfect, thats a thing I really dislike about Madonna, she seems perfect in whatever she does, I never saw Mdonna forgetting her lyrics(I only saw a few performances though) or SOMETHING that would make her seem human
b) Ayus has good costumes(I watched some parts of Madonnas Drowned World tour and the costumes were just plain ugly o.0 at least Madonnas costumes, the dancers had better costumes)
c) ayu does NOT play an instrument while singing, I don't like the main person to play an instrument while singing, that way, they cant interact with the audience or do something else^^
d) theres not too much happening in auys concerts aside her singing, i really love her theatrical things, i LOVE them, but I hate them when you dont even notice shes singing anymore because all your attention is on the props and dancers, im glad that never happened with ayus concerts, but it always happens with madonnas concerts
e) Ayus concerts are full of emotion, you remember untitled ~ for her ~ on CDL0708, thats a performence that really touches the listeners heart and its always like that with ayu, whatever feeling she expresses, you know its real(or VERY VERY VERY good played, though i doubt that its acted, it seems TOO real to me + shes not a good actress) wether its the happiness in HONEY(AT05), the suffer in Because of You(CDL0506), the goofy feeling of AUDIENCE(CDL0405) or any other feeling...no other singer seems to show them as good as ayu does

[jbrat2219]

I've only seen Ayu's concerts, but from the little I've seen of Madonna, they both seem to throw a heck of a show.

[Andrenekoi]

I don't think that it's fair to say that Madonna's lives lacks emotion, even because most of her popular songs are not very emotional... but she does have some VERY emotional performaces in her career... In This Life at Girlie Show is a good example^^

To me, the best female pop performers over there are Ayu, Beyonce and Ivete Sangalo (that nobody here knows, but I love to death :B Brazilian queen of pop). And I can't pick a favorite one when thinking about these 3

Then I love Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Thalia (mexican queen of pop :B) and Mylene Farmer (french queen of pop... yeah, I have something for queens of pop) as performers, they all can balance talent+charisma+visuals in my opinion^^...

Thinking about opening a "pimp your pop performers" thread sometimes to show something about the artists I love and know more about other people favorites =)

[Ayumi27]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

I don't think that it's fair to say that Madonna's lives lacks emotion, even because most of her popular songs are not very emotional... but she does have some VERY emotional performaces in her career... In This Life at Girlie Show is a good example^^

To me, the best female pop performers over there are Ayu, Beyonce and Ivete Sangalo (that nobody here knows, but I love to death :B Brazilian queen of pop). And I can't pick a favorite one when thinking about these 3

Then I love Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Thalia (mexican queen of pop :B) and Mylene Farmer (french queen of pop... yeah, I have something for queens of pop) as performers, they all can balance talent+charisma+visuals in my opinion^^...

Thinking about opening a "pimp your pop performers" thread sometimes to show something about the artists I love and know more about other people favorites =)

Yeah, I agree it's unfair to say Mad's shows lack emotion... The only thing I don't really enjoy about them is the PERFECTION... Because an outstanding concert is one thing, but Mad seems to be robotic sometimes...

By the way, Ivete Sangalo is great! I love her music and one of the shows at Maracana was good

[AyUta]

I don't like Madonna, so I haven't watched any of her tours lol. Ayu's...are really neat and entertaining. She dances and acts, instead of just standing there and singing. You also have the dancers/other actors. All this together makes a great concert.

[waterballoon]

I thought Live To Tell and Forbidden Love in the Confessions Tour was really emotional... anyway you guys just made me realize how we all love Ayu... the emotions~

[jbrat2219]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

To me, the best female pop performers over there are Ayu, Beyonce and Ivete Sangalo (that nobody here knows, but I love to death :B Brazilian queen of pop). And I can't pick a favorite one when thinking about these 3

*raises hand* I KNOW IVETE! And I love her

[PinkShinigami]

I guess the stage does a lot of it of being a good concert! But I don't like when the artist dance to much, I more want the moves to be more "random" - I know that the fewest are, but it can at least seem so XD