Enrique leaves the group

[Refix]

I don't have any feelings he's leaving or not. He's like a shadow in the band. The spot light always on Yochan or back vocals. I surely felt sad when Peco-san leaves, she's awesome lol
Anyway wish him the best.

[hayasaki]

Originally Posted by kendelle

^ You were going to the May 16 or 17 concert right? Worst case we can go together then go eat some food and either celebrate or mourn depending on the outcome haha

Oh gawd count me in. I'm going on those dates too. LOL

Anyway, i wonder who will replace him.

[chocopockymaster]

Originally Posted by hayasaki

Anyway, i wonder who will replace him.

I was thinking the same thing. Whoever it is will have some pretty big shoes to fill!

(crossing my fingers for some bad-ass female bassist tbh)

[Chibi-Chan]

Originally Posted by chocopockymaster

I was thinking the same thing. Whoever it is will have some pretty big shoes to fill!

(crossing my fingers for some bad-ass female bassist tbh)

That would be awesome!

[kendelle]

Originally Posted by waterballoon

shit now you make me wanna buy tickets to Japan and the concert so we can all hang

You totally should!!!! A few AHS people attending a concert together would be fun and we can recap afterward

Originally Posted by hayasaki

Oh gawd count me in. I'm going on those dates too. LOL

Anyway, i wonder who will replace him.

And for sure, plus we could have dinner afterwards!!

[asagarichan]

that so sad...

[Delirium-Zer0]

Originally Posted by maxikot

It just hit me slightly that many people say that now that Enrique is gone they lose respect to Ayu, that it shows clearly that she is going the wrong way etc.

I can only speak for myself here, but it's not that I'm going to lose respect for Ayu. Enrique's departure is a major symptom of an issue that I've suspected since... basically since "Voyage" came out, to be honest. And that's that she doesn't know what she's doing, quite frankly. She doesn't know what she's most talented at, she doesn't know where best to channel her energies, and she's changed her reasons for making music and doing concerts. And when your mission statement changes, your product changes. And Ayu's product has changed over the years and while some of it is better, most of it is not. Enrique's departure is a sign that my suspicions have been correct despite all my hopes to the contrary.

Originally Posted by maxikot

Somehow whenever here on forum i read reports of people attending her shows in vast majority of reviews i can find phrases like "she owns the stage/her personality is overwhelming/it's her spirit that's felt" etc.

This is truthfully what I'm HOPING will be the case when I actually see her live. Her concerts on DVD hold very little magic for me anymore in part because... like, if you just skip to a random moment on an Ayu concert DVD, the likelihood that the camera is focusing on her - or that she's even anywhere in the frame - is WAY lower than it should be. In person, perhaps it's not so much of a problem and ayu's charisma makes up for the lack of focus on her. But watching at home is a frustrating experience because I feel like she gets lost under all the colors, lights, dancers, costumes, and staging. It worries me that her concerts aren't about her music or personality at all, they're just big shows where her music is kind of the soundtrack.

My philosophy is that the studio should be where an artist makes their most deliberate work. That is where drums need to be carefully placed, where harmonies need to be perfected, where sound effects need to be added carefully, where mixing needs to be precise. In concert, it's about expression. It's about being natural, improvising a little bit, letting the songs grow & evolve over time as their meaning changes for you. It's about feeling the energy of the audience and letting them feel your energy. It's about opening yourself up for the fans who are there, rather than putting your best foot forward for the mainstream crowd who'll be hearing your recorded work.

Originally Posted by maxikot

With all respect but even if at some point Yochan goes away it's still Ayumi Hamasaki that we buy and attend concerts. Of course i know that her name is not just the name of her but also name of brand she and her team developed but one can't cross the artist cause a member of band leaves :/

And here's where I'll simultaneously agree and disagree.

No, Ayu isn't about the people. But the people who work for her DO reflect certain aspects of her vision, her mission statement, her values. When you're in the public eye at all, the people who work for you have to share your vision for your brand, you know? Ayu's band & dancers have stuck with her because they shared her vision for what her shows & music should be. Whatever her values are, whatever her vision is, her music, music videos, concerts, and media presence should all reflect it.

Enrique is a rock & roll bassist. And for years, Ayu was a rock singer cleverly disguised as a pop diva. And rock & roll isn't just a genre of music marked by a heavy guitar presence; it's an attitude. Pop is about manufacturing a product, making sure everything is arranged just right, making sure you're as appealing as possible to as many people as possible. Rock & roll is about expressing yourself, connecting with an audience who feels like you understand their feelings, and embracing mistakes as pieces of your humanity with the understanding that those mistakes are endearing.

I remember watching concert tour 2000 Act 1 for the first time (Keep in mind, at the time CT2000 1&2 were literally the only Ayu concerts out there to buy and watch at home)... In the closing for Boys & Girls, ayu started doing these improvised "la-da, la-da" vocalizations and she just sounded so natural and right, she was just up there expressing herself vocally. Amid the careful planning and staging of the entire show, those vocalizations stood out like a big bright flashing beacon of "this is who Ayu really is." And it all fit really - Ayu was a "pop star," but she didn't dance, her lyrics were self-penned, she was so principled in expressing herself that she never used English lyrics even though EVERYONE else in J-Pop did, she was brutally honest in a culture that discouraged it, she was always sort of a misfit. She was a rock & roll singer. She just kinda looked like a pop star.

Enrique - who'd been a rock bassist for AGES before joining Ayu - could probably see that right off the bat. Ayu was so perfectly awkward, she was the kind of pop star who made you feel less alone. Her appeal was that she was just brave enough to say the negative things that every teenager in Japan was thinking. She was imperfect, and that was what made her perfect; that was what made her totally freaking rock.

Originally Posted by maxikot

People come and go, Enrique stayed with her how long? 17 years? As for solo artist he stayed with her really long, no? I don't deny that i loved his presence and i will miss him and maybe the fact of him going away is a sign that deeper he disapproves of the path Ayu has taken, but still it's just peoples assumptions. Aside from that he expressed his respect and feelings towards her.

It's not that he disapproves of the path Ayu has taken. It's that he knows he can't be part of it, because that's not his path. You can respect Ayu's attention to detail without agreeing that it's the best approach. And, like Enrique, I have a ton of respect for Ayu's attention to detail and always have - but I don't think it's the approach she should be taking. I don't think details should be the ONLY thing you focus on, and I think that's Ayu's problem. I think Ayu can't see the forest for the trees anymore. I think she has no vision anymore, and I think she's trying too hard to be broadly appealing, in the process ignoring what made her special. Her humanity, her mistakes, her darkness, and her awkwardness are ALL STILL THERE. But she is CHOOSING to cover them up as best she can rather than embracing them. And I do not agree with that. Neither did Enrique, clearly.

Originally Posted by maxikot

Judging Ayu and deciding that her future will be filled with bad songs cause band members are leaving is wrong.

I don't think it means her future will be FILLED with bad songs, no, but I do think she'll continue to be as "safe" as she's been in recent years. And "safe," for Ayu, is almost always not great. It's like she's starting to feel that her lyrics are overstepping some social boundary and as a result she can't have dynamic arrangements anymore.

I think Enrique leaving is proof to me that this isn't just a patch she's going through, this is actually how she's developed.

I've had my complaints over the years regarding Ayu's music and concerts. There are absolutely things that Ayu does that I'm like "okay, whatever" about (for example, I miss when she wore fashion I could easily mimic or adopt, and I miss when Ayu never had English in her lyrics, but I can get over that stuff easily). But for the most part, Ayu's core has seemed to stay the same - her lyrics are as good as they've ever been (in fact, after a rough patch of a few years, I think lyrically she's been back to form since around the time "FIVE" came out). She may have changed her method of connecting with her fans (from concert MCs to twitter, for example) but she does still seem interested in connecting with us.

But Enrique leaving is, to me, a sign that Ayu's core has begun to erode.

[maxikot]

I agree with all you've written Delirium-Zer0 Just maybe i find it slightly exagerated that you were feeling that Ayu was starting to take wrong path since Voyage which was... kind of loooong time ago. And honestly i adore your statement that "Ayu was a rock singer cleverly disguised as a pop diva". She shines in rock songs trully.

[Delirium-Zer0]

I'm glad you understand.

And yes, the "wrong path" began so long ago, but it's always run very close to, and parallel with, the "right path". And this wrong path seemed to take a few detours on the right path, too. So I always kinda hoped she'd eventually settle back into the "rock singer" path once she realized that was where she belonged... But I suppose not.

[Chris85]

Delirium-Zero, based on your posts in different threads I'd say you're not fan anymore. Ayu's bassist leaving doesn't mean the beginning of the end. Ayu's being healthy, happy in her love life, not mixing her private and celebrity lives, doing vocal training, releasing good music, doing acrobatics training, deciding for her own whether she wants to appear on TV or not, doing spectacular concerts, etc. She clearly knows what she's doing. The fact that her music doesn't make you feel anything may not have anything to do with her decisions, maybe you just moved on...

[douggn]

So sad though news like this will always come with the good and the bad comments. I will miss his presents but he is not the reason I watch her tours. I think I'm more concerned who will replace him. Will he fit Enrique shoes or will he be some crazy new add in

[DonkeyKongRemix]

Originally Posted by Tom Punks

Eh... in a bassist tho? They're so background it really doesn't matter who plays it as long as they're skilled at it.

It matters. A lot.

[ALfromHELLSING]

That's too bad. He's of course not Yochan, but he was cool.

[orbitalaspect]

Originally Posted by maxikot

I agree with all you've written Delirium-Zer0 Just maybe i find it slightly exagerated that you were feeling that Ayu was starting to take wrong path since Voyage which was... kind of loooong time ago. And honestly i adore your statement that "Ayu was a rock singer cleverly disguised as a pop diva". She shines in rock songs trully.

I agree that she shines in rock songs, but the most overwhelming experience for me as an Ayu fan is on tracks like Last angel / Connected / HEAVEN / Moments... Ayumi isn't a one-trick pony, and I think what Delirium is mentioning is that she went from being an artist with a particular sound to being an artist that no one can reasonably follow because she's never in the same place more than once.

I fell in love with Ls because it was her first record since MY STORY where there were predominately longer tracks, most of which had beautiful intros. I think the fact her sales were comparable to RnRC, even though she had been losing up to 30% with each new release, showed the public really appreciated that she did something familiar for fans.

Don't get me wrong, I love XOXO. I think Terminal is a great track. But I also think that Zutto... / Last minute / Walk is her sound. And part of why she's losing dancers and losing band members is because she's not honestly making good use of them. Watch that youtube performance I linked to again. Why is Lico, who've we all come to love and embrace, masked like some prop? Why can I hear Tim, but not see him? She's done some amazing collaborations, but it's so inconsistent. If I were Enrique, I'd feel close to being put out. I'd want to get out of there as soon as possible to avoid putting that I was ONCE Ayu's best bassist on my résumé.

My only gripe and disagreement is in her live performances. I actually *cry* when I watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffM6a9ewJeM Ayu has not been this solid of a stage performer in over a decade, and considering that 90% of her pre-2008 gigs were props and stage themes, to see our girl walk out with nothing more than a beautiful outfit and a dozen dancers and give me goosebumps... IN A YOUTUBE VIDEO... I think she's become significantly better on stage in the last year or so than she has in the better part of the last decade. And bear in mind, she is still deaf in one year and at high risk of losing her hearing in the other.

Anyway, word vomit. Excuse me.

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by orbitalaspect

I agree that she shines in rock songs, but the most overwhelming experience for me as an Ayu fan is on tracks like Last angel / Connected / HEAVEN / Moments... Ayumi isn't a one-trick pony, and I think what Delirium is mentioning is that she went from being an artist with a particular sound to being an artist that no one can reasonably follow because she's never in the same place more than once.

I fell in love with Ls because it was her first record since MY STORY where there were predominately longer tracks, most of which had beautiful intros. I think the fact her sales were comparable to RnRC, even though she had been losing up to 30% with each new release, showed the public really appreciated that she did something familiar for fans.

Don't get me wrong, I love XOXO. I think Terminal is a great track. But I also think that Zutto... / Last minute / Walk is her sound. And part of why she's losing dancers and losing band members is because she's not honestly making good use of them. Watch that youtube performance I linked to again. Why is Lico, who've we all come to love and embrace, masked like some prop? Why can I hear Tim, but not see him? She's done some amazing collaborations, but it's so inconsistent. If I were Enrique, I'd feel close to being put out. I'd want to get out of there as soon as possible to avoid putting that I was ONCE Ayu's best bassist on my résumé.

My only gripe and disagreement is in her live performances. I actually *cry* when I watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffM6a9ewJeM Ayu has not been this solid of a stage performer in over a decade, and considering that 90% of her pre-2008 gigs were props and stage themes, to see our girl walk out with nothing more than a beautiful outfit and a dozen dancers and give me goosebumps... IN A YOUTUBE VIDEO... I think she's become significantly better on stage in the last year or so than she has in the better part of the last decade. And bear in mind, she is still deaf in one year and at high risk of losing her hearing in the other.

Anyway, word vomit. Excuse me.

Because they are the suport dancers and the suport musicians. They are there to play the music and to serve as moving living decorations. And they got even less time to show their faces on the period a lot of people over here believes to be Ayu's peak as a performer.

[TheReal]

A lot of Ayu's dancers and musicians have careers outside of Ayu.

I know that yo-chan has his own band that used to be the official band for the Kamen Rider series.

Miyazaki Yusuke, one of Ayu's keyboardists, plays for a variety of other groups and is an active member of a band:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xRdvkd1Dg4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeNX_1jzOFY
(full list of tours/recordings is here: http://spicykikin.web.fc2.com/profile.html)

Tomonari Yoshihiro, another one of Ayu's keyboardists, has released his own albums and plays at a variety of shows:
http://www015.upp.so-net.ne.jp/tomonari/#sche
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKiKNSjAFbo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx6GZ28Yw9I

Go-mi now owns a bar: https://www.facebook.com/SweetbackBar
SHU-YA's now a certified player :

Spoiler:

2-YAN is a DJ for his own group, Party Animal: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Party...28563213863747

ZIN is also a member of Party Animal, and I believe he owns a clothing line called ELIMSMILE: http://ameblo.jp/zingown/, http://elimsmile.jp/

Subaru and Kazuma are both a part of Party Animal as well.

3 of Ayu's acrobats are part of the POWERBOMB acrobatics team: http://www.powerbomb.co.jp/
The other 3 acrobats (Tomoki, Satoru, Katsuyuki) are members of BLUE TOKYO: http://bluetokyo.jp/en/profile/
(I think Tomoki might be related to Shiho Fujita, who some of you might know as Sifow)

As for Enrique, I'm not sure if he has done anything else really. I think his main reason for leaving is that he wants to pursue a solo career now like many others are doing. I don't think it's that he doesn't like Ayu's new music, I think it's just that he wants to try doing something different.

[Surreal17]

wow.. this is the first time I hear this news.
I read all the comments on this thread and it was a kinda interesting long discussion.
Well, I feel kinda sorry for him but its better that he wants to do something only for himself. Its healthy this way. And I'm sure this year's tour will bring new surprises