Recommend concert DVDs 2009-2015

[HanabiChick]

So it's my birthday month and as my brother usually asks me what I'd like I thought I'd ask him for another Ayu concert DVD as he lives in Hong Kong and can get the official ones there cheaper than online. I'm not sure which one to ask for so I thought I'd ask what your favourite ones are and why. The one that gets the most mentions is the one I'll ask for. He already got me POWER of MUSIC so you don't need to tell me about it I'm not sure which are available in the shops so that's why I'm asking about more recent ones - easier to find (hopefully!). Thanks

[Surreal17]

One of the few dvds that I own is Countdown Live 2011-2012 A. I love that concert so much that I had to buy it. The problem is that it comes exclusively with Party Queen in the CD 2DVD Version. But its just worth it,she sang so many new songs there (sending mail, November, Party queen, hbya, insomnia) plus so many rare songs from love songs (do it again, moon etc.)

[ExodusUK]

Ayumi Hamasaki Premium Countdown Live 2008–2009 A.

[YukiUsagi]

Countdown Live 2010–2011 A: Do It Again. I love almost all songs in the track list

[chocopockymaster]

^ I can't stand that concert The only good part about it is the ballad medley.

I highly recommend AT2009, her NEXT LEVEL tour. It's a really well-done show and the MC disc is hilarious even if you can't understand Japanese...it's worth it to see the band/dancers playing (trying to play?) charades, lol

[Gustavopc]

CDL 12-13 and 13-14 are epicness in the format of a concert. NEXT LEVEL Tour is also great, plus Rock'n'Roll Circus Tour

[Aderianu]

Originally Posted by chocopockymaster

it's worth it to see the band/dancers playing (trying to play?) charades, lol

my favorite part =)

RnRC best grand tour from this period

[Pieces_of_SEVEN]

I would NOT recommend power of music unless you're cool with all of the alternate arrangements. Personally, I don't care for them.

RnRC Tour is very fun and entertaining. One of my favorites! Microphone, INSPIRE, Don't look back, Rule, LOVE 'n' HATE, Sunrise, all fun!

PCDL 2008-2009 I remember loving. Especially if you like the setlist- songs that are rarely performed.

Maybe I'm biased, but definitely A BEST LIVE. I love all of the songs performed. Excellent concert! The poker face, Fly high, HONEY medley is awesome! I also loved, A song for XX, Memorial address, You & Me, JEWEL, and Tell all.

[kinix]

Rock 'n' Roll Circus and HOTEL Love Songs arena tour!

[Delirium-Zer0]

It REALLY depends on what you want in an ayu concert lol... If you like the more big, grand type visual spectacles, RnRC 2010 can NOT be beat. It's nuts. But if you like the more music-focused, smaller scale ones, then PCDL 08-09 and AT2009 are gonna be more for you... And if you enjoy creative staging and club atmospheres, CDL 13-14 is highly enjoyable.

I wasn't nuts about either of the HOTEL Love songs concerts, I found them irritating - the focus is more on the broadway show playing out than Ayu, and it felt like Ayu was a side note or something for the whole thing. I prefer when Ayu has the focus.

A BEST LIVE was a great show but on the DVD I feel like you can tell she's not enjoying herself much - it comes across really strongly for some reason, especially if you watch CDL 13-14 immediately before or after it. It seems... stiff? I guess?

CDL 10-11 had a great setlist but was, IMHO, profoundly disappointing as a show.

[Ayumi Romania]

Arena Tour 2009 Next level or Rock 'n' Roll Circus. Or if you like very much Love Songs, I think you should get HOTEL Love Songs arena tour!

[Gustavopc]

Originally Posted by Delirium-Zer0

CDL 10-11 had a great setlist but was, IMHO, profoundly disappointing as a show.

SO.EFFING.TRUE

[Delirium-Zer0]

Originally Posted by Gustavopc

SO.EFFING.TRUE

Glad I'm not the only one.

I do want to elaborate on what I mean by that... It's like the whole concert is at this weird place in between trying too hard and not trying hard enough. Every performance seems to be moving toward a concept but then not following through. (Why, for instance, is Shuya's outfit during Free & Easy not red? Why is Ayu not wearing simpler, more tattered looking clothing? Are the stake & the red spotlight REALLY as far as you're gonna go with the imagery?? REALLY!??)

I'd probably love at least the encore if she didn't have that short blond wig on during it. It's like she couldn't even decide if she wanted to commit to a more casual, natural appearance for the encore - again, so close to being a concept, but no completion of the idea.

The audio has its issues too - since "Dream ON" is very bassy, it sounds REALLY REALLY out of place in context. The whole show should have been mixed with a bassier sound as it went on, so "Dream ON" wouldn't be so odd. (I'm not even gonna get into how frustrating the singing - back track - singing - backtrack switching during "Last angel" was - and that was how she OPENED the show! Doesn't bode well.)

There's so much about the show that I like though - about half of the costume design (the other half being absolutely dreadful); some of the choreography (the new choreography for Marionette in particular is quite good); the fact that the cameras focus so much on Ayu instead of the dancers for most of it (although this was done better on the live stream than on the DVD version, it's still done better here than most of her concert DVDs); the consistent purple color scheme in costumes & lighting but with occasional red sections, which help the concert to have its own cohesive identity to some degree, which most of her concerts lack... And the set list itself was a GREAT mix of classic concert staples, new songs, and stuff that didn't get performed often.

And to be honest all those good aspects just serve to make it even more of a frustrating watch for me, hahaha. Ah well.

[chocopockymaster]

^ I want to marry that comment and then take it on a really swanky honeymoon

[aloopy]

I'm not too familiar with her recent tours but I love PCDL 2008-2009, it has a great setlist, with quite a few older non-singles songs which I adore (except for the cute section (HONEY ))

[Irish_Ayu_Fan]

Gotta say that my favourites are A Best Live and Premium Showcase ~Feel The Love~.
A best live has such a good setlist! And her vocals and stage presence are great, tho a few songs were lip synced (poker face painfully so).
I may be biased because I love Colours but the Premium Showcase is just fantastic! Whatever and Last Angel as the opening is my favourite opening of all time. Also Terminal & Connected are marvellous together...Feel the love itself is really really fun too!

[tbarnes10]

I think almost everything since 2008 has been really good and worth watching. But if I had to recommend 1 I'd say AT 09 ~Next Level~. The concert and videos are some of the best. But honestly what makes this the best concert ever is the encore. Watching them play charades and do other games/activities really makes this the most enjoyable to watch.

[Andrenekoi]

Funny seeing so much people recommend AT09, I remember people really hated it when the DVD was out... The vocals were bashed to death and people keep calling it cheap looking.

My all time favorite Ayu concerts are AT10, AT11, AT12 for different reasons... But to be quite honest, IMO 2009~2015 had Ayu at her best concert wise, so, you will be good getting any of the ones released on that time spam.

[Delirium-Zer0]

AT09 got a ton of backlash cuz of the "epicness creep" of ayu's shows before that... From Arena Tour 2003-2004 on, each major tour got bigger and bigger than the one before it. After the huge freaking ship at the climax of AT2008, Ayu fans were somehow expecting something bigger to follow at AT2009. What they were expecting, I have no idea. When AT2009 took a more understated, intimate direction - scaling it back to about the size of AT2003-2004 or the MY STORY tour - people were understandably disappointed. (Although folks here who know my attitude regarding Ayu concerts will not be shocked to learn that my reaction was OH THANK GOD, hahaha)

Ayu didn't learn soon enough to be careful with "outdoing" herself each year... you do that kind of thing, you're gonna hit a limit at some point and all you'll do is disappoint people when you can't keep the implied promise that everyone imagines you made. It's the truth. Film series, game series, and events like conventions all have EXACTLY the same problem.

[Andrenekoi]

^Oh, I understand that, and I also understand why AT09 was smaller. But I also find it funny seeing people praising the releases generally considered shit at first. I myself love AT09, always did, I find the Rule performance as an opening to be among her best, if not her best.

Ayu would be far more palatable as a popstar if she gave her public exactly what they wanted at the time like most popstars do, but the fact that she is always breaking expectations plays against her with the part of the public looking for a more immediate gratification.