ARENA TOUR 2016 A ～MADE IN JAPAN～ [IV]

[Ryusei]

Watched the boradcast yesterday and i was positively surprised. I liked the themes of the different sections and she sounded really good. Brillante was def. A highlight for me it looked so spectacular and since the song is so epic it just made the performance even better. She sounded best during MOON and you are the only one imo she nailed these songsI think the only reason why she can never do you were... right is because of crying. those hard to hit notes in the chorus and crying just dont work. Otherwise she would sound totally fine I think and it's one of my fave ayu ballads so i'm glad she sang it.
In conclusion i'd say it's not as good as CdM but then again that's like her best tour ever IMO but it was still a solid 8.5/10 for me. Can't wait to see the unbroadcasted songs too. I wonder what she sounded like during boys & girls because IMO she sounded better during evolution than usually.

[rainbow_smile]

She actually sounded really good in You were... during the quieter chorus (the one after "Yasashikute atataka sugiru omoide ga") at one of the concerts that I attended, so yes, she could totally nail the song if she wanted to.

[js_surrealism]

For me it's definitely not her best tour ever, but it's still miles better than the joke that was Cirque du minuit.

[Refix]

After watching the MC session in CDM, I really hoping LICO and Kazuma came back in this concert MC, they're hilarious to watch!!!

[Cahz-]

Such a good concert, my favorite part is the Japanese section, rainy day and Endless sorrow. An that ever free performance was truly captivating.

[EndOfTheWorld]

After watching the concert I felt very satisfied with everything.
But to be honest, I don't know why people are saying that the vocals have been so edited. I just don't hear it. I usually can tell but this time I can't. It just sounds like a normal live concert recording. I feel like when artist use some kind of edit or processing system, it seems pretty obvious. Overall though, the vocal performances were great to my ears. Not the best ever but pretty damn good

I thought the tracklist was great. Still hoping for a live performance of Mr. Darling and Breakdown at Countdown. I think the whole concert really benefitted from having a slightly shorter tracklist. I mean the Cirque de Minuit FINAL had over 20 songs! My only complaint is Survivor. I don't think it really fit in with Autumn, it just doesn't have the right sound. Especially coming in after the beautiful ever free.

As for the stage designs and everything. I thought it was amazing. I didn't think the stage was too flat. Not all concerts need multiple levels. The stuff with the projector was very nice! It was very gorgeous and at times very immersive. But I felt there were some draw backs to using this method for the screen/video. When the lights were low, it was so immersive and vibrant, but once the lights turned on it just made it very obvious that it was a projection on a screen. It kind of just pulled me out of the experience. I understand that they need to illuminate Ayu so we can see her and her dancers and Ayu need to see where they are going on stage but, I wish they could have found a way to do that without effecting the screen. I'll add pictures to show what I mean.

Overall I really liked everything. The songs, the vocals, the outfits, the stage, and so on. Oddly one of my favorite moments was the ever free part. I thought that was so beautiful and well done. I think this tour is one of my most liked out of the ones from the past few years. Really since Power of Music.

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[Chibi-Chan]

Just watched the tour with a friend who's also an Ayu fan and who I met a few years ago trough ahs. We both agree, this was her weakest show in a long time. Very disappointing. Recyled performance after recycled performance. The only cool thing was the new arrangement for evolution. Oh and vogue was great too.

[truehappiness]

I think she just had a very stripped down vision in mind for this show which was planned from the get go, so it isn't as flashy as previous tours. Despite that, I'd say that from BRILLANTE to ever free may be one of her best sets ever. That shadowplay section was amazing~

[dreamalley]

I was most looking forward to seeing "BRILLANTE" and my expectations were high.

But in the end I was disappointed.

It seemed like the weakest performance vocals-wise in the whole show. And the acrobatics weren't as interesting as I expected.

Her performance really reminded me of Pink's: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcBn0_yCY20

But all in all it was a good show.

[njanjayrp]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

I think she just had a very stripped down vision in mind for this show which was planned from the get go, so it isn't as flashy as previous tours. Despite that, I'd say that from BRILLANTE to ever free may be one of her best sets ever. That shadowplay section was amazing~

Out of four different tours I attended, I'd say that A BEST LIVE was the most mediocre one, visually, followed by Made In Japan which, while it had it's moments, does fall short of following up the awesomeness of Cirque de Minuit which is absolutely my all time favourite. The show was visually way more coherent and simply had an almighty setlist. Made in Japan was fun, but far from her very best. I did like the setlist a lot though. flower, evolution and vogue remain my fave performances followed by Summer Love and tsmgo.

[Evan Odinson]

I think you guys are way too used to paraphernalia, too much visual and effects, concerts can focus on music too you know I think that was the intention here and back in PoM, less show, more music, not attacking anyone tho, hope it doesn't sound rude

[Zeke.]

Originally Posted by Ryusei

Watched the boradcast yesterday and i was positively surprised. I liked the themes of the different sections and she sounded really good. Brillante was def. A highlight for me it looked so spectacular and since the song is so epic it just made the performance even better. She sounded best during MOON and you are the only one imo she nailed these songsI think the only reason why she can never do you were... right is because of crying. those hard to hit notes in the chorus and crying just dont work. Otherwise she would sound totally fine I think and it's one of my fave ayu ballads so i'm glad she sang it.
In conclusion i'd say it's not as good as CdM but then again that's like her best tour ever IMO but it was still a solid 8.5/10 for me. Can't wait to see the unbroadcasted songs too. I wonder what she sounded like during boys & girls because IMO she sounded better during evolution than usually.

She shouts the entire chorus of You were... even in the studio version, it's the main reason I just cannot stomach the song. I am the biggest fan of Japanese winter-themed songs (ballads, midtempos, etc.), but You were... was seriously such a letdown for me when it was released. I still can't listen to it - when the chorus hits I always feel like "I need to turn this off." What a vast difference the emotions and thoughts I feel while listening to the magical No way to say. In that case, I'm always thinking "I NEED TO TURN THIS UP~"

[EndOfTheWorld]

Originally Posted by Evan Odinson

I think you guys are way too used to paraphernalia, too much visual and effects, concerts can focus on music too you know I think that was the intention here and back in PoM, less show, more music, not attacking anyone tho, hope it doesn't sound rude

I agree with this very much.
It's not like she did nothing. She worked really hard to put on a great show and I think she achieved that. It seems like some people are expecting Ayu to keep stepping up with each tour, more and more spectacle. But a show can only be so grand and flashy.
With Ayu it's either people are disappointed in her vocal performance or in the visual. The more flashy a live performance is the more the vocals get sent to the background.
Music should always be the number one priority in a concert. That is how it was originally anyway.
Everyone has their opinion. For me I would rather go to a more basic show with good vocals than a really fancy one. With both Power of Music and this tour I believe that is what happened here. CDM was awesome but I don't see why it's the best. I am SO GLAD that Ayu is done with the whole circus thing.

[Aderianu]

Isn't it first tour without Miyazaki Yusuke on keyboard?

[truehappiness]

I guess so, since .. AT05 or AT03-04?

https://twitter.com/FenderRhodes73/

Looks as though he was on his own tour though during this year's.

[Chibi-Chan]

Originally Posted by Evan Odinson

I think you guys are way too used to paraphernalia, too much visual and effects, concerts can focus on music too you know I think that was the intention here and back in PoM, less show, more music, not attacking anyone tho, hope it doesn't sound rude

To be honest I don't see where on earth her focus here was on music. Most performances were recyled and almost identical to other tours, it's not like they have less visuals or something. This wasn't supposed to be a best of kind of thing or something. Furthermore what I totally hated was her focus on the show and the dancers and NOT on music. This is the very first time I'm complaining about her dancers. I always liked them because I felt they added to the show and told a story. Especially in Hotel Love songs. But this time they were just there for the sake of being there. There was no story whatsoever they added to, not a single song was performed without them. Why there has to be a focus on a dancing show during rock songs and ballads and not on music when there is no storyline they could add to is something I honestly don't get. This show wasn't "stripped down", it simply was boring and uninspired.

[truehappiness]

I thought the dancers were far more distracting in some of her other tours. In this, it feels like they have purpose. And for Ayu, this is 'stripped down'. Having watched all of the tours so far, I feel like this was not really as recycled as you say other than the outfits being mixed from some other eras. Just what performances specifically were identical to other tours?

[Chibi-Chan]

^INSPIRE, rainy day and MOON for example.
It's not like you have to agree with me, but I stand by my opinion. There was no red line, no story here. Just Ayu and dancers performing songs like they always did. The whole seasons chapter thing wasn't even executed well. If I hadn't known, I woudn't hve guessed there were chapters.

[truehappiness]

Hm, even if they were done before, they were not the same as their counterparts. I think for some performances, due to the projections, they were some of the most gorgeous 'sets' she's ever had. Much different from what they had executed before.

[fuawas]

I absolutely loved what they did with the projections! Specially during the Rainy Day/MOON segment, one of my favourites.
I do have to say that I wasn't very fond of the You&Me/Lelio/XOXO/glitter medly but otherwise it was a great concert ^^