00. Disco-munication
01. (NOT) Remember you (upbeat Rock Song)
02. Nonfiction
03. WARNING
04. is this LOVE?
05. Because of You
06. decision
Interlude Classical Section
07. Together When...
08. November
Taiko Drums Interlude
09. I am…
10. Moments
11. M
12. Who (instrumental)
13. evolution
14. Bold & Delicious
15. NEXT LEVEL (POWER of Music 2018 Arrangement)
16. MASK

ENCORE
17. Key ～eternal tie ver.～

It is also one of my fav tour, I loved it soooo soooo much.

OMG!!!
Key ～eternal tie ver.～

I really like this song. I know it's a mediocore track, but the arrangement is fairly listenable.
I'm still surprised why it was included in A BALLADS.

00. Disco-munication
01. (NOT) Remember you (upbeat Rock Song)
02. Nonfiction
03. WARNING
04. is this LOVE?
05. Because of You
06. decision
Interlude Classical Section
07. Together When...
08. November
Taiko Drums Interlude
09. I am…
10. Moments
11. M
12. Who (instrumental)
13. evolution
14. Bold & Delicious (PoM Version)
15. NEXT LEVEL (PoM Version)
16. MASK

ENCORE
17. Key ～eternal tie ver.～
18. Medley ～flower garden, everywhere nowhere, Independent, +, SURREAL～
19. Boys & Girls
20. Love song

END

Had to walk out before the encore even started.

Sorry, even being her biggest fan I couldn’t bear through her screaming & poor techniques anymore.

The all rock intro sounds amazing on paper and all, but it was a bad choice given her current vocal cord conditions. She exhausted herself by the end of the rock section and pretty much screamed through the rest of the concert. That together when performance…. I considered leaving after that but chose to stay given I’ve been her fans for all these years already

:( her appears TV performance was promising and all but someone needs to tell her to STOP SCREAMING. And the frustrating part is I know she can actually sing. Idk if it’s all those rock song at the beginning that set her for failure. But frustrating nonetheless

Hope she does better tmr, but her cords will probably be even more exhausted.

me2, I'm sad to hear that it didn't get enough attention for a DVD release, instead they just released a TV version, leaving PO^3 to be favored for a DVD. There are some decisions that are impossible for me as of now, on the DVD release of the new album which will contain the recorded version of a-nation... I preferred the recording of Summer Party TA:(

'o' wow

Too sad.

She actually warned a few days ago that her throat wasn't good... -_- now I'm sad because I liked the setlist.

and she even performed on tv on the 28th... GOD. I liked the presentation on tv, did you have autotune?

God so sad to read that

Too much....

How can Ayu be helped? Isn't she having vocal training? -__-

Have any Band Member in the Concert？(guitar/bass, string, brass, choir？)

There were orchestra and taiko bands, the same as her last few tours really.

Bold and delicious was the POM version btw

I feel like she should’ve revised the set list so she’s not singing 6 rock songs in a row. She was actually somewhat singing during not remember me

And lowered the keys for all her songs. Idk why she’s so stubborn about that. Afaik she only lowered em for I am/moments/M

Mediocre track ?!!! God this song is a masterpiece for me.

Normally the broadcast concert is the worst in terms of vocals.
Anyway, she's been screaming for decade, it won't change tomorrow.
Pre-recorded TV performances are the only way to enjoy her lives these days.

I like it though, but have to admit it's just a mediocre like call, letter, last link (which I also like)

at this point it really is a choice. Even outside of singing she would constantly do those dreaded "wooOooOooOoooOo" "AyyEhehehehHEHEeeeh" hypeman shit. I understand as a performer you want the show to be hyped but not if it's affecting your ability to sing.

Gwah I sound so bitter but yeah :/ this is the second show of hers I've been to and probably the last. Gonna listen to her studio recordings only moving forward

Honestly I don’t think that show was that bad vocally. I mean that is how she has been singing for past 10 years. No outstanding vocal performances to be remembered here, but I have seen her at worse times too.
The one thing to note though - the show was far from being sold out. Quite some empty seats in arena and stand areas too.

Tow Chinese fans said seem like just 70% sold out in 12/30…OMG
Actually Ayu （or Avex）should not hold two day CDL now :no

Okay! I'm back now from the concert too! Mind you all, I cried for the first 15 min as I was in shock I was finally at an Ayu concert in person... I also haven't been that active in watching all the recent concerts on DVD, so I'm not sure if some of this was recycled material and how much was new. For me, it felt really fresh overall and the concert had good energy.

Just some thoughts...

- I was prepared for the vocals, prepped the partner for potential vocal issues. It was actually not that bad vocal wise as I had expected, similar to watching her other live, unedited performances. So I didn't mind it at all. A few small moments of cringe, but eeeeh...we didn't mind it.
- Really enjoyed all the songs chosen! Ayu cried a bit at the end, it was so sweet.
- November was so nice, I really loved getting to hear it live!
- The drum interlude(s) was so great live and so were the strings pieces, these were a highlight as they stood out as very different from everything else in the show.
- Intro was also super awesome and well done
- Ayu was really visible throughout the concert, she made use of the full stage so even those in the back got to see her up close.
- M was good over all, visually stunning.
- All the costumes and outfits were just gorgeous! Loved them all!

Hi guys. I got the tickets on eplus very last minute today and it said I need to redeem at the counter when the door opens at 9pm tomorrow. Anyone experienced this before and any advice how early I should be lining up for that? Not expecting a super premium front seat anyways…

There is a special queue to the left from the people with normal tickets. Look for 当日券交換 or smth like this. They start at the same time as Doors open. You might want to be a bit earlier, don’t know how much that matters for Ayu show.

Just a couple of years ago she was holding 3 days CDL…

so... how was the final setlist?

Final setlist

I hear there is a limitation on the venue capacity for just 50% because of covid restriction

Glad that NOT R y is a rock song
Will release tmr night
Good!

Not anymore

That was removed in november 2021, so more than a year ago. Back at that time empty seats were clearly marked that no once could use them due to restrictions

Ah ok..

I think that super long rock upbeat part at the beginning of the concert really tired her vocals.

She sounded like that during rehearsal too where songs were out of order. Basically that's just how she sings, constantly straining her voice

Indeed. I think she was quite satisfied with the show and that it went vocally how she expected it. Nobody in her team points out to her this thing about her technique and she has 6 back vocalists…

She changes vocal coaches, but things do not really change. Are they yes men or with her condition there's so much you can do?
I do agree that what was presented was far from her worst vocals.

I really enjoyed the show, and didn’t mind the vocals too much. I feel like they were decent for her current voice. I have attended AT2011, AT2012, and almost every tour/CDL since 2016 (over 30 shows total), and while her vocals weren’t the best tonight, I can say that I have definitely heard her sound worse.

About the attendance, I noticed there were a lot of empty seats, but maybe they were partially social distancing? I was in the first floor of the stands today(arena tomorrow), and there was an empty seat between everyone (even people who came together) and no one directly in front of or behind you. But that didn’t seem to be the case with the arena seats, though there were still quite a few empty seats from what I could see. All of the other shows I’ve attended this year were not social distancing.

I actually quite liked (Not) Remember you, and maybe I misheard, but at the beginning it sounded like Ayu said “Who the f*ck are you?” I’m not sure, but since she says “You’re full of sh*t” in Nonfiction I wouldn’t be surprised. lol

I think there was a slight wardrobe malfunction during evolution? After the song started I noticed a white puffy skirt laying on the stage. One of the dancers tried to pick it up but it looked like it was caught it the stage and one of the staff members ran to help and take it off stage. Maybe Ayu was supposed to wear but it got stuck and came off?

I’m honestlylooking forward to tomorrow’s show as well.

So she sang terribly but i forgive her for performing November cause I know that'll be the highlight of my NYE

I wonder tho maybe they should autotune her during the rock parts at this point

I actually think there was autotune present for that performance, but she didn't sound like she was screaming. Probably because the songs were fairly mundane.


I honestly don't know why singers do this. You need to have a technique and have it down properly. The concerts she's doing go on for a couple of hours if not more, i cannot imagine the strain it puts the vocals through if you don't do it properly. Knowing that she skipped vocal lessons as a starting singer is an awful thing, because now she has tons of habits to fix and it's harder than learning new stuff as a newbie. :no
I remember GACKT constantly loosing his voice after days and days of touring, it just shows lack of vocal technique. You should not be loosing your voice if you do it right, especially on the heavier rock tracks.

Also i never understood them doing more than one shows for CDL. The CDL is called a COUNDOWN LIVE for a reason, it should just be a special kind of concert that happens once a year on NEW YEARS EVE, and that's it. It always baffled me.

wow,
how do i participate in this?

Live auto-tune can be a real mess. Remember Madonna's performance on Eurovision (broadcast version)? It made the pitch all wrong.

Just the regular ahs drama... I'm happy that (NOT) Remember You is a rockish song, excited to hear the studio version.

Weird, I joined recently and now the group just disappeared from my discord, was I kicked out or did I do sth wrong?

ah..... :(:(:(:(:(:(

I went to see Ayu in April 2022 and seats were still COVID restricted.

I went to see her in April 2022 as well in Pia Arena and that is not true. Seats were not restricted, it was 100% capacity. You couldn’t shout or sing along though. Covid restricted seats were present at first shows of 23rd monster tour in November 2021, but not anymore for CDL 2021-2022.

Here is news from official site announcing that they release more seats due to relaxing of covid restrictions back in 2021: https://avex.jp/ayu/news/detail.php?id=1094762

All artists that I know in Japan had shows at full capacity this year. Definitely no signs on seats this time that they are not in use due to corona restrictions like it was in Makuhari Meade for first show of 23rd Monster.

How are you saying it's not true? So rude of you. We didn't go to see the same event. I saw her delayed concert in Kobe. All seats had spacers. Everyone had to fill in a COVID survey on AnyPASS.

I'm guessing they space seats if the venue doesn't sell out.

Sorry for that. Kobe show indeed had spacers for the seats, like for 23rd monster arena shows. But the same month for Pia Arena 24th anniversary they didn't have spacers (and seats in the stand area are very very small so there was no social distancing for sure). The survey on AnyPASS still remains also for CDL this time including the questions about Cocoa tracing app that is not operating since November.

maybe each city/prefecture had different resstrictions in different times?

Looks like tonight's show won't be sold out either, plenty of tickets still available. People are saving money because of collapsed yen, do not want to risk getting infected or the fanbase just shrank further?

or maybe a bit of all?

so disheartening to hear that she's reverted to screaming again, after the good (but granted, edited) TV performances :( that succession of rock songs are a huge red flag for the state of her voice, no matter how low she tries to lower the keys.

I don't know what happened yesterday but today she sounds amazing and the concert is fire so far!

OMG I’m so happy to hear! I hope no changes in the setlist.

None so far. Waiting for encore.

I think she mostly sounds good! There were a few songs where she struggled or was shouty, but 80% is very solid IMO!
Visually, the entire concert is stunning, too! It's a fantastic show in my opinion. Great outfits, great usage of the stage & a great setlist! I think Ayu actually did well during the rock section & her voice was still good, even after singing all those demanding songs.

(NOT) Remember you & Nonfiction were next level iconic and tbh, the entire rock section was really great too! The red section also felt 'iconic' to me, especially M! Others might disagree but this concert has so many "WOW" moments to me.

holy shit this is the best plot twist after pages of concerned and negative reviews of the concert! thank you so much for reporting and I hope she continues to perform well :luv2

this is so good to hear! I can't wait for (NOT) Remember you to release soon. and it seems that Nonfiction is getting a lot of emphasis as she enters her 25th anniversary huh? always interesting to see why she values certain songs more than others.

^I hope my words don't give any wrong expectations haha. To me, this concert was truly iconic, though there were some shouty songs & her voice was a bit tired in the encore.
Ayu's voice is what it is these days, so that's obviously something to remember. But other than that, this felt like Ayu at the top of her game.

I think the DVD is going to be fantastic :)

Oh and regarding Nonfiction, the song had a little bit of a moment, that's probably why she pays so much attention to it. It's quite successful compared to the other singles.

25th Anniversary Live 8 April 2023!!

Her stamina is insane! She ran across the entire catwalk and back during Love song (the very end of the show) & was still beaming with energy. It's easy to forget that she is 44 and had two children since 2019. Also, I feel like she was more energetic here than during other shows we had since 2020.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/0ou9t2

did we watch different lives? :D I think she sounded so bad. I'm forever grateful for AHS Watch party but she was screaming in all of her songs. Mask and Love song were the best ones and they were 70% OK. She looked fabulous but I can understand why DavidChaiLatte walked out

I hate negativity towards her but I did not enjoy her vocals at all

Just watched the live, it was the first time in 18 years that I can watch a CDL in direct live ! Fantastic experience.

The rockish songs were my fav' I think Ayu did good, her voice sounded nice!
That's after that I didn't really enjoy her voice anymore. She was often off key (especially I am, Bold and Delicious, Key) and she was shouting. That's a pity I know she can do better.

That being said, it wasn't the worst I heard from her (I remember CDL 09-10, it was simply horrid !!) and she had so much energy it was cool to watch.

thank you SO much! :luv2

EDIT: oh my god I love this song

Loved the concert! So grateful any time I get to see Ayu.

I enjoyed the show visually and vocally. She had a few off moments but they weren't many and didn't stop me from enjoying the show. In my eyes, she is doing alright considering everything. She could easily use a ton of filters, some autotune or lipsync through the whole thing but she chooses to sing and for that, she has my utmost respect. And I seriously thought she was really fine most of the time.
The whole first section was pure fire and I could barely catch my breath haha. I can't express how I love M-red dress version - stunning. The stage was amazing too with all the light work and the use of the whole space. I think it was an absolute peak ayu concert.

I thought she was gonna sound really bad like the 24th anniv concert but she actually sounded decent for most of them, the worst one was her singing Mask but then again I already knew she's gonna scream and shout and let it all out whenever she'd be performing that live. Expected it to be a bit more disco-ish though but overall I enjoyed it. The new song is definitely gonna be my fave on the album for sure!

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1p24y1v7tX/

She sounded great here. This new song is so great. Really fresh! I love it when she works with the new and younger arrangers. Still my wildest dream she going to work with Hiroyuki Sawano someday.

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV11M411y7x6/

I can hear that she is really struggling to sing M

M is definitely a hard song for her, especially the final part, but I think it sounded okay. She honestly sang it better than I had expected.

After watching the full recording. Yes, she is struggling a lot with the high notes, I think she can't hear her voice clearly, well we know the reason. She keeps adjusting her ear monitor. It's really hard to sing in a big venue when the music is very loud but she can't hear herself.

Key is really painful, not sure why she chose this song which is very hard to sing even during her peak vocal condition, I think in 2005, she just did ok performing Key.

But I respect her to be brave enough and still sing live even though I believe she knew that she is not doing well enough performing that song.

M is ok, she lowered the key, but the beat of her runway walk on M is kinda off, usually, she walks on the beat while performing this song.

The highlight for me (Not) Remember You and Non-Fiction.

I hope she will keep working with her new vocal coach and show results on her 25th anniversary.

I believe she is the type of person that very hard on herself and tries her best in everything she did.

I can't watch the whole thing due to too many people accessing the g-drive file, but i watched these and yeah M sounds really rough, almost as if she's trying to overshout the music by making her voice louder. High notes are hard on their own and when you don't have a perfect technique and your voice is a lot lower they will get even harder. She's a trooper, though, for still trying to perform that stuff instead of completely changing it, but i think it's time to do it to make it easier and less hard on her voice.

The whole thing: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV15K...card.all.click

I have mixed feelings. The singing is... both bad and not bad at the same time. I actually think she really can't hear herself in her monitors. Like it doesn't sound like she's screaming / pushing for the most part, she just can't get the pitch. Like Together When... is probably the best breathing technique we've seen her sing this song with, but the pitch is so off in a lot of places. November is the same.

I don't think it's easy for her to do this, so I appreciate this. She's probably not happy with this vocal performance, either. I feel so bad for her, because she's definitely trying, and when she's on pitch it sounds so great. I wish there was just some way to make it easier for her in the performance (the pitch). Honestly, I'd probably prefer her to lip sync to tracks she's recorded in a controlled environment where it's easier at this point.

I thought it was a great show. Yes, some of the songs that require really high notes were a struggle. I thought November sounded the roughest actually. But then other songs I thought were done excellently, like Moments. That was one of the best Moments performances.

So I just watched Together when and November, which was the section I was interested the most, and I'm disappointed, even the calm verses on Together when sound bad.
Makes you wonder how much they edit her voice on those near perfect TV lives from some days ago... or it may be the exhaust of her voice after the rock section, as some said. Who knows.

I don't think any of her TV-streamed lives have ever been perfect. If you saw one it might have been one that they edited beforehand that was not a live broadcast?

Those lives being pre-recorded, she can perform everything more than once and use the best take. I don't think they are super edited, but the enviroment is way more controlled.

I think that considering everything she sounded ok during the concert. Noticed she went more off-key on parts she had less prerecorded voice and back up singers to use as a guide (the ballads).

There was also some lip-sync, mas less than she could actually use if the wanted to.

Whoever styled (or was it Ayu's own decision...?) her for the encore segment... omg

It looked quite bad.

Other than that, pretty happy with the concert! She looks fabulous when she's in the right costumes that complements her current body shape. Vocal wise.. well I think it's nothing too different from the other CDLs.

I enjoyed the show.
Her vocal is OK, the worst part is November & Key to me.
She can't reach the long high note with the clear vocal but it was nice with Moment section and the beginning songs

She looked 20 years younger :D

I ripped the concert if anyone is interested. Link

https://postimg.cc/mzBcBrJX

I always get given bad seats but I was still stanning Ayu in my outfit.

The vocal wasn't that bad in my standards, except Key. Or I was prepared after the comments
Overall the concert was nice. The very beginning is a huge "go fuck yourself" message, I like it.
All outfits are really nice, I hope ayu will keep them for the anniversary live. The pink sparkling coat is lovely.

Love your outfit!

I just finished watching the dTV rip of the CDL a few moments ago and, honestly it was somewhat not as bad as I expected? like, it was 'bad', in the sense that we know she could have exerted more control, as we see from SAIGO NO TROUBLE, MUSIC for LIFE, and the recent string of TV performances.

she resorted to screaming much more frequently than in CDL 21–22, and this is probably because of the sore throat she was reportedly having before the first show. (then again, the sore throat was probably caused by excessive screaming during the CDL rehearsals, so we're probably just going in circles here :laugh). this made several songs sound very grating, like the succession of rock songs at the beginning and especially Key.

that said, I think she pulled it off not too bad in other songs where I would expect her to perform worse, like the I am...–Moments–M section (oh god especially M; she struggled, but didn't sound that bad in my book!).

and also, I just love most of her looks and outfits oh my word??? I'm indifferent about the encore outfit, but the rest look awesome, even that Edwardian Infant look she pulled during Together When...–November! I hope they release this on Bluray soon, because it should look and sound incredible with some editing :luv2

So i skimmed though the concert and it was so black and white when you talk about her vocals - she sounded perfectly fine is some songs/part and completely off key in others and struggling. I have a feeling there was something going on with the monitors and the backing tracks/instrumentals, cuz she kept adjusting them a lot and sometimes it felt like the music was taking over her voice. Her technique was also off at times. But i applaud her for keeping it live instead of lip-synching even though she's got issues with her technique and hearing.

I loved the costumes except for that black November monstrosity of a dress/look that looked like a total mess. Can we leave this crap in 2008? She's had some beautifully done massive dresses in the past few years for her ballad/soft segments and this was not it! I have no opinion on the encore look, since she always comes out in something casual from her merch table. I liked the hair though.

It was a pretty good show, though.

I liked the black dress but it was much better on day 1 without the headpiece.

The concert is not bad but I'm worried about her ears' health. From November we could see and hear there is something wrong. She couldn't clearly hear herself and she didn't stop to focus to try to sing well while she was singing off-key 95% of the time. I don't count Moments and M because I don't believe that she can sing two songs (and one of her most difficult song of her discography) in a row almost perfectly while all the rest from November to B&G was mostly bad. They were surely lip-synced. During Next level she was slightly out of time with the instrumental at a moment.
I can understand why she burst into tears in Love song. :(
That's sad because I believe that she trained to sing so much in spite of her half-deafness (the beginning of cdl and the last TV lives proved it, she can control her voice) but loud music during concert killed all her efforts.

The mixing during the show was weird too, sometimes the vocal was up front and sometimes it was behind the music...?

Is Subaru no longer part of her team? Is he related to that incident during 2022 where Ayu said she needs to take responsibility for someone in her team?

Subaru graduated a while back and does his own thing now.

Ayu mentioned on her instagram that there was an issue with her in-ear monitors on day 2. At least that's what I got from IG's translation.

I love the tracklist of the CDL. But unfortunately vocally it couldnt meet the mark and it was rather saddening to watch through November, Together When..., is this LOVE, I am... (the softer higher parts were the issue).

Didnt like that jazzy spin-off in Moments AT ALL. And ooof...Key shouldnt deserve that shouting ><

But whatever it is, whenever I watch Ayu, its just really HAMASAKI AYUMI all over her performances. Her emotions, her intensity. I am... (despite some vocal struggles) was just so powerful, from her stance, from her gaze. THAT is the ayu I will always enjoy watching.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katsuyuki012 (Post 3355943) Ayu mentioned on her instagram that there was an issue with her in-ear monitors on day 2. At least that's what I got from IG's translation.

Some more context on this-

^Thank you so much!! :heart

Anyone knows if the archived live in dTV available this week is the direct live or an edit live?

It seems the same but someone upped saturation on it so that the colors are all weird now compared to the original.

I technically like what they did with the colours but everything ended up looking rather washed out, lots of details got lost.

It looks awful. The original broadcast was actually pretty good for a livestream, but someone really knocked up the saturation levels for the whole video file without checking how it affected everything else. I took some comparison shots - since they're larger images, I'll put them all under the spoiler. The top screenshot is original broadcast, the second one is the playback version. I really hope this isn't indicative of the footage they're using for a future dvd/blu-ray :weep

Uhh..why.the live stream version is so much better

I just finished watching the CDL.

- I love the setlist. L-O-V-E
- Im happy that she doesnt force the nasal sounds so much. I have the feeling that she didnt use her "cutesy" voice that much
- What I cant understand is that she clearly cannot distinguish between sounds she can hold and those who she cannot sing. There were so many situations where she was off and she kept the sound so long. At the same time, I have heard worse than this.
- I would have loved to see the show. Outfits, performances and the entrie show was great.

I am afraid what she will announce on the 25th ...