I love MOON! seriously, this tour has an awesome setlist!

I love MOON. :D

i hope she puts all these into the bluray...it will make one EPIC tracklist if these mini songs are all in...

Thiiiis. It sounds like she's working really hard to make each night special. I would really like a chance to see them all.

Love song was performed during the mini MC yesterday.

Omg! I love love love how she performs a different song at each date! Kind of makes each concert a little more special~

Love song <33333333

I hope she includes all of the songs on the DVD for each tour date!

Love song :heart

Are these like the short A Capellas she did in AT08?

It seems like ayu sang few english notes on the beginning of forgiveness (before the beginning of the song)

^wow...that's cool

omg Love Song <3
Ahh can't wait to see her perform in July :D

Were you able to catch any of the streamers in the stands? I have Arena D-block seating so I'm curious XD

I was in the there yesterday in yokohama arena too and I must say I found it soooooooooooooooooooooooooo good!!!I was so happy to be in a concert like this and I started crying already with forgiveness!!She did an amazing performances!!!!!It was so pure!!!!A very special moment!!!
by the way, I loved she performed love song!!!It was soooo good and she was so sweet and cute and really just herself!!Her vocals were great!!!!!(^0^)

I sat at D-Block and I got streamers!!!I`m sooooo happy about it!!(^0^)v
Wish you luck you also get streamers!!

Yeah, I got streamers and she nodded and waved at me a bunch of times...and then she tweeted me about it afterwards XD. Needless to say, it was UNREAL.

I was in the front row on the D-Block side and I was so excited when she sang Love song. I saw her tweeting the lyrics for Love song earlier this week and then I asked her on Twitter if she could sing Love song on Saturday...and though she didn't respond to me via Twitter, she sang it only yesterday among both the Saturday and Sunday lives. She answered my request live in concert ^_^!!!

Plus, she greeted me today too~. I'm pretty moved, to say the least.

Hamasaki Ayumi schools the world of Japanese pop in a lesson on sonic prowess.
 

The following is a concert review article I wrote on Ayu's 2011.06.04 performance at Yokohama Arena:

Hamasaki Ayumi’s new POWER of MUSIC tour demonstrates that modern-day J-POP artists can be more than extravagant stagework and pyrotechnics. With the smoothest vocal performance she has delivered in years, and a complete reinvention of the arrangement of her classic hits, Hamasaki proved her talent as a musician, above all other things, and demonstrated very clearly that the title ‘Empress of Japanese Pop’ is rightfully hers alone.

Amidst a boom of monochromatic imported Asian electronic productions and engineered underage bikini-wearing idol groups, Hamasaki shows her more vulnerable, private side as a musician for the first time as she sheds her traditionally beloved explosive, earth-shattering visual gymnastics and directs her audience’s attention to the power behind a long-awaited sonic revamping of her signature works.

It is clear during the show that Hamasaki spent a great deal of time reworking her older material into a complete rebirth of orchestral proportions. Her devotion to her craft is indisputable as she commands the brass quartet, percussion, keys and strings into harmony as the maestro and conductor of her own hand-crafted pop opera.

Hamasaki made an arena seating 13,000 viewers feel small and private, like her own little jazz bar as she sang orchestral, blues, rock and bossanova renditions of her most iconic songs. By incorporating the MC portions of the concert into the main set, Hamasaki made the large and daunting Yokohama Arena feel warm and cozy and those who hearkened from far corners into her melodic home were certainly not left unimpressed. There were undoubtedly no bad seats in the venue, as even those in the stands had a fantastic view due to Hamasaki’s decision to utilize a 360-degree stage.

While those who expected Hamasaki’s usual delivery of visual theatrics and laser-driven lightshows might have been somewhat disappointed at first glance, those who truly value the sound-quality of her work will find this show one of her best to-date. Vocally, her performance was of the highest quality and the songstress easily outdid her own delivery on the studio versions of each track. That being said, her command of the orchestra and careful reinvention of her previous material is impressive and well-executed, at the very least.

To a hardcore music-lover, this show is sonically the apex of Hamasaki’s performing career. Anyone who has ever doubted her ability as a musician would do well to see this concert above all others.

As for a play-by-play-esque breakdown of the concert, I put this together. The set list is divided into eight parts, not including the MC session and encore. Each part is proceeded by a short video that alludes to the theme of the songs in the coming set and it all builds up to support the idea that no matter what difficult experiences come our way, we, as human beings, have a divine and innate inclination to survive. It's no exaggeration to claim that this is absolutely one of Ayu's most moving concepts so-far.

Here's the setlist:

Remember
01 forgiveness
M.C. Session
02 Love song (during the 6/4 live only; during the 6/5 live, she performed an a cappella rendition of the chorus for YOU)
Relax
03 blossom
04 BLUE BIRD
05 monochrome
06 fairyland
Pain
07 Guitar Interlude
08 A Song for XX
09 M
10 NEVER EVER
Sorrow
11 walking proud
12 part of Me
13 Moments
Smile
14 Catcher In The Light
15 vogue
16 Far away
17 SEASONS
Joy
18 WONDERLAND
19 Bold & Delicious
20 Mirrorcle World
Cheer!
21 evolution
22 Boys & Girls
To Be Free
23 Born To Be…
Encore
24 Daybreak (A WORLD is ONE Photo Presentation)
25 A Song is born

Highlights:
- forgiveness was EPIC. Even though physically speaking, she's really small, she was so powerful up there conducting her entire orchestra as she belted her way through a re-arranged version of the song.
- Altogether, her vocals throughout the whole concert were nearly flawless. Best vocals I've heard from her in a long time.
- M was rearranged as a rock song (think of the 030213 Session 002 version of A Song for XX found on A BALLADS and you'll have a good idea of how it turned out!)
- Bold & Delicious was hilarious! You can tell she really enjoys poking fun at her dancers XD.
- the vogue-Far away-SEASONS trilogy was certainly nostalgic since she hasn't performed them in a while as a set, and of course, the new arrangements were excellent.
- I'm not sure if it was the case for everyone, but I cried my eyes out during A Song is born. Poor Ayu had to wave at my unabashedly sobbing face XD.

Extra tidbits:
- I forgot to mention that I was about a foot away from Leslie Kee and Shingo Kobayashi during the beginning of the concert ^_^. Leslie was looking sharper than he usually does in his Twitter photos and Shingo was easy to spot because he was wearing white pants XD.
- Erika Sawajiri was apparently there for both the 6/4 and 6/5 shows.

Did she perform Daybreak?!? I heard of a part of Daybreak appearing on the screens but not of her singing it.

Awesome review BTW :) Thanks a lot.

She didn't actually perform it, we just ended up singing it as an audience haha. But I figured to include it in my report since they displayed the song name intentionally on the jumbo-trons ^_^.

Thanks!! I really appreciate that! =D I'm glad you enjoyed it.

@greggerz189 thanks for your comments about the concert!!

greggerz189. do you mean the audience sang Daybreak together with the piano version included on the video?

@toniayu: My pleasure! I'm happy to give back to AHS since y'all have given me so much these past six years ^_^.

@miki_beland: Yep! Exactly that.

Thanks for taking the time to write all that! Looking forward to hearing all the songs and I hope they will release a CD+DVD live album instead of just DVD.

@njanjayrp: My pleasure, really! =) It really is incredible what she did with the re-arrangements and definitely deserves a fully mastered CD release.

Greg!!!!!!!!! I'm so glad you enjoyed the show!! And that she spotted you!!! :D So nostalgic, I miss that time when we went for that Yoyogi show together~

Now I can't wait for my turn at Yoyogi in July!!! ^^

greg, can you tell me if they used the same music as in the original video or if they just put daybreak instrumental???

Ah, thanks for that report! Sounds like this show is really one to behold!

thanks for the report greggerz :3 this tour seems really interesting

omg really cant wait to watch this concert! Ayu and orchestra!

I can't wait for the DVD already....

I'd be happy with just a sample of her forgiveness vocals... it sounds like she goes full on goddess angel from HEAVEN mode during that song, haha.

(A WORLD is ONE Photo Presentation) ???

^ The facebook hands photos!!

Thanks Greggerz!

Does anyone else think that adding ever free to the beginning of the concert after forgiveness would be great? It would be depressing but so so so good.

Misa-chan!!!!!!! Ahhhh, the first night I was thinking, "Gah, I wish Angel was here!!!" We could have waved at her together! =D Ahh, now you've got me traveling down memory lane and getting all misty-eyed and nostalgic! I wish I could go with you guys at Yoyogi in July!

I've never actually seen the original video, so I'm not completely sure...do you know where I could watch it? I can tell you once I see the original video~

@truehappiness: My pleasure! Ah, I'm glad you enjoyed it! (I feel really flattered that you said that since I'm always really grateful for your contributions here at AHS =D) Just thinking back on her performance of 'forgiveness' gives me goosebumps. It's just...massive. That's the only way I can explain it--I can't believe energy like that can come from such a small person.

@Kazeyomi: Gladly! =) It really is quite splendid, I must say.

@keikeiaznqueen Yeah, the hands photos! I've been off the radar as far as あゆ活動, so I wasn't sure how exactly she was able to gather everything together, but when I saw 'A WORLD is ONE,' I was like, "Huzzah!!! My people from AHS represent!!!!!" Y'all made me so proud ^_^. As far as 'ever free,' I think it would be a fantastic addition to the show. Don't get me wrong, 'Moments' is one of my most beloved Ayu songs, but I think with the right orchestration, 'ever free' could be unbelievably powerful in that slot on the setlist.

greggerz189 - beautiful report...thanks for sharing

LOL...i know what you mean

by the way...it's really hard to enter AHS lately...it's happened when there is something new or important, but as far as i know..nothing new or important..
looks like AHS under attack by someone...i believe it's one of the haters...
is it just me, or anyone else experienced it?

I haven't been able to get on properly for 2 days now. Go check out the "member's pics" thread in the chat room. It's ridiculous, one moron is causing this massive outage. :headache

I don't think I'll be going to PoM tour this year. I may be going to Japan in September this year, but its not definite. And I'd rather save all my money for the big trip me and two other AHSers have planned for next year. :love

reading Greg's fanaccount..
i'm so envious of you!
wish to be in Japan to attend POWMU tour..
i wish to hear her new arranged songs so bad~

Oooooo looking forward to this one XD

I really wish I could go, Ayu's concerts always look so fun.

Glad to hear you enjoyed yourself greggerz! And then for her to greet you, amazing! ;)

@AyuGAME: Haha, right? =D Yeah, I've been having the same issue as well...I guess someone's crashing the site like Earth_maiden said...

@AyUmIXx: I wish I could have shown you all more/taken you all with me! If I ever get the chance to actually sit down and talk with Ayu, I'd want to see if she'd be able to hold even one concert in the U.S. to which her Western Hemisphere fans could flock XD.

@fuawas: Thanks so much! I really appreciate it :). Yeah, I've been listening to 'forgiveness' on repeat for the past two days XD.

@AyUta: Thanks!! Yeah, it's been like a dream, really :P.

greg, a world tour would be great, coz i'm not from US >.<
and how could ayu recognize u? did u dance hyper-ly during the concert? lols~

I would love to see this! The set has most of my favorite songs on it! It's been so long since I've listened to Fairyland and Blue Bird.

I love this concert. M was so great, can't wait to have it on Blu-ray. Really love her voice in this tour. On the second day we had B-Block seats and during Born to Be... was ayu in front of us and was waving at us. Such a great moment. :thud

@AyUmIXx True that, I realize it's hard for her fans all over the world to try and see her in any one given place XD. I think that's why it's been difficult for her to try and have a world tour. Though, she'd be the first Japanese female pop artist to headline a Japanese-language world tour (I realize that Utada Hikaru did In The Flesh, but that was an English-based headlining tour)!

Haha yeah, I danced like CRAZY. I was in the front row on the D-Block side and I was easily the tallest person in the whole arena, so it probably wasn't hard for her to spot me XD. I'm 6'1" and I kept waving and jumping up and down and pointing and singing to her haha. I was also tweeting her as "The tallest guy in the very front of D-Block" so I think that's how she was able to remember ^_^~.

^ wowww Greg u r so lucky.. envy you very much!
so are u going to watch another show?

@AyUmIXx Yeah, I really can't believe it ^_^. I'd like to! I'm here in Tokyo for at least another month, so I've got the time so long as I have the money at some point and can find tickets XD.

ooo this one looks intresting XD cant wait

lol he is one tall dude. When we went for an RnRC show together last year, he towered over all the little Japanese fangirls and fanboys in the arena lol!!!! XD

Don't wanna nit-pick but Kitade Nana had a small-scale World Tour this year...though she is far from Ayu's level of popularity.

People have been saying that her voice sounds different...? Is it a really big change? I need more details please! I really wanna know :) I wonder how her future releases will sound like with her new voice... :)

Yes I was excited to hear new material but progress's verses really sound the same as Thank U's verses to me as far as the quality of her voice is concerned. We will see an improvement probably on the release that follows and definitely on the next album!

^ I think progress was probably recorded at the same time as Love Songs. I think that's usually how Ayu does it.

Yeah, I think she probably finished the song either around Love songs or during that period when she was in LA for a while with Mannie before her 'retraining' with Manaho.

However, I don't think her vocals are even all that bad sounding in progress.

^ Neither do I. I just listened to the preview again for the second time and they aren't that bad at all, not as nasal as they sounded on the first listen anyway.

I am looking forward to seeing how her 'new' voice sounds though. I'm so proud of Ayu, she's trying so hard and she already has improved a lot from a few years ago.

@greg: here you have the video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiUpXQ3aArE

There are 3 parts, the one in the middle is my piano version of daybreak^^ waiting for your answer! thanks

@miki_beland: Thanks! The video is more or less the same; they definitely used those pictures, but they added some extra notes about how it came from her international fans and the countries from which the photos were submitted...but the audio is different--they used their own arrangement...

@misa_chan: Bahahaha, so true!!! XD I miss that. I really wish I was going with you guys this year at Yoyogi~

@fuawas: I did try really hard for her to notice me XD. I was absolutely ridiculous...every time she came by my side of the stage and wasn't waving at me/tried not to look at me, I still jumped up and down and waved like I was trying to flag down an airplane in the sky, and she had this look on her face like she was going to laugh and say, "What the hell is wrong with this kid? XD"

@everyone: Her voice wasn't so much different as it was impeccable. Now that she wasn't dancing and being flung all over the stage on giant props, she was really able to focus the power of her voice and so the vocals were absolutely impeccable. I could tell she did some serious training in musicality for this tour.

@greggerz: are you sure they didn't use miki's arrangement for the video? That'd be kinda sad :( but it's great they still use the video! :D

She probably did say that a few times in her head, hahahaha.

sorry to go somewhat off topic, but does anyone happen to have a larger version of the A logo for the tour yet? i think it's gorgeous~

@Luja.: I'm pretty sure it's different...the video itself was also edited--it had an introduction and conclusion that is different than what's posted above. The pictures were definitely used, though.

@panda♥: You mean the HOTEL Love songs logo, or the POWER of MUSIC logo?

Hahaha, I can only hope! :lech Modesty never got me anywhere, anyway XD.

No concerts this weekend, so this was a good time for Ayu to go to Indonesia for the weekend.

True that, she's causing quite a Twitter buzz from Indonesia XD.

LOL A quick vacation in the middle of a tour? No one deserves it more. ;)

to you guys who ever bought tickets in a reseller store, do you think it's possible to trade a ticket for another one that is on another date? Like, I have a ticket for 23rd of July B block, can I trade it against for 24th of July B block? Does anyone here have experiences with that?

I've tried it before.

They wouldn't let me trade. They might offer to buy your current ticket (for a lower price, obviously) and then tell you to buy the one you want. So you will definitely end up paying more.

Just ask anyway. :)

Just go for the 23rd!!! I'll be there too with friends so we can meet up ;)

^ we will meet there, misa! =)

@HilaryDuffFanboy you mean pay less than orginal price? I heard they sometimes have ridicilously high prices for tickets they sell, I can't believe they themselves pay even less than that! This system doesn't work for me:cry

I will go to 23rd! But I have two tickets for 23rd now since the friend I wanted to go with doesn't want to come anymore. So I would like to attend both dates.
but yeah, let's meet everybody!:heart

Gah, I wish I was in the city for just a couple more days! Then I'd just buy the ticket off of you and go with everybody! =/

is there a plan of the arena (yoyogi on the 23rd if that helps)? I want to check where I'll be :3

How many people will go to July 23rd now? I think last time I saw a thread about this it were 6 or so, but now it seems to be more already! :D AHS party at Yoyogi:grouphug

by the way, do you only have one ticket to sell ? My boyfriend and I are going, I'm just looking at the prices right now and it seems I would maybe be able to get a better seat

Actually I am not sure now which way I will sell it. But it would be only one ticket, yes. I think I will still try my luck at the reseller and if I can't trade, I will just have to with seats that aren't so close for 24th...

EDIT: I just talked to a Japanese friend about trading tickets at a reseller and she asked me not to deal with reseller stores at all. Is it a bad thing to do? I already heard some people in Japan don't like reseller shops, but why?
I mean, it's not like I want to sell the ticket for profit, I just can't use two tickets for the same date but want to attend both dates, if that's possible for me.

I'll be there on the 23rd / 24th I think. 4 years in a row!

Need to get hooked up with some tickets first though ;)

They probably don't like them because resellers always buy TONS of tickets the moment they go on sale and then sell them for much higher prices, so tickets end up being more expensive and harder to get. I dislike resellers, too :innocent (Doesn't mean I'm not gonna buy from one though obviously)

^ oh they buy lot of tickets themselves, too? I thought they get most tickets from private persons who sell to them. Well, that kind of makes sense.. still I think for most international fans who want to attend ayu's concerts, especially if they decide last minute, it's the only way to get tickets sadly..

Yeah, they go and buy up a bunch of tickets at the convenient stores and whatnot when they go on sale and then end up doubling or tripling the prices when they re-sell them. I got lucky on the second day of Ayu's Yokohama concerts because when I was hanging out in front of the arena, some girl just came up to me and said she'd give me her ticket at retail price and they were fantastic seats--D-Block, Row 6 ^_^.

Yes, Luja!! The friend I mentioned to you in the PM is Matthew, he posted right below you lol!! ^^

Anyway, the thing about reselling tickets is that the Japanese feel that it's immoral, since you're using people's love for their idol to earn money. In Japan, I think it sort of amounts to a crime to sell your ticket to these shops to earn money, fellow fans don't take kindly to that. :shrug That's why many fans would rather stand around outside the arena and sell unwanted tickets at original price, then to sell them at the reseller's.

Lots!!~ I'm coming with at least 3 friends from Singapore as well!! ^^

I'm quite familiar with Yoyogi's layout, so if you can tell me your seat number, I can tell you where you'll roughly be. ^^

Alright, now I understand. Oh oh, this whole ticket thing.. I just wished I got tickets for 24th from TA, too, just like I got the 23rd ones from them. That'd have been a lot easier. Well, I will have to wait and think about it again.

Wohooo! So many people omg:laugh
If some of you guys will be there a bit early, you can see me & Lee^ChaN camping in the goodies line for those awesome hotel key strap thingies that they only sell there!;)

^ I'll come early as well i think, I have to get those also x)

@ Misa-chan : okay I'll ask my friend to check the tickets first ~~ ! Thanks <3

I just sent these re-seller prices to Luja., but I figure you all might find them useful as well. They're from Yokohama Ticket in Shibuya for the 7/24 show at Yoyogi, and they're rather pricey...

Arena:
A5 – 40,000JPY
A6 – 50,000JPY
B1 (Somewhere between Seats 60~90) – 33,000JPY
B1 (Somewhere between Seats 90~120) – 56,000JPY
B1 (Somewhere between Seats 80~130) – 28,000 JPY
B5 (Somewhere between Seats 90~120) – 50,000JPY
B7 (Somewhere between Seats 20~50) – 24,000JPY
B8 (Somewhere between Seats 50~80) – 24,000JPY
D3 (Somewhere between Seats 10~40) – 20,000JPY

Stands:
South E12 – 12,000JPY
South J13 – 12,000JPY
South H8 – 22,000JPY
South H9 – 22,000JPY
South E16 – 12,500JPY
North L1 – 26,000JPY
North C15 – 13,000JPY
North K11 – 15,000JPY

As for fans selling their tickets outside the arena like Misa mentioned, that's how I got into YokoAri on the second day at retail price and I had incredible seats XD. It makes me want to just wait outside the Fukui dome to see if I can get lucky again! :lech

By the way, I love seeing us Ayu fans being all diligent about tickets to her concert~ ^_^. Makes me remember that I'm part of something special.

which are the first floor ones?

If the seating arrangement is the same layout as the one in Yokohama Arena, then probably any of the seats labeled "Center" (which, ironically, do not seem to be available for the Yoyogi show on the 24th at the Yokohama Ticket reseller shop in Shibuya), and likely any of the Arena block seats from rows 1~5. For example, B1 would mean that you're in the B-Block, first row (which is why those tickets are so expensive).

The layout is different because its an all around Stage.

In Yoyogi, blocks C and D are at the front as well.

well the cool thing with this tour is that any place is good I guess, I don't really care not to be in the front row, I just want to be there and enjoy the concert <3

I've been in the arena and in the stands for her shows. Good and bad things about both. I enjoyed being higher up last time, so I could get a good look at the stage. Although being on the ground, it's more likely she'll see you, better chance to grab streamers etc...

I took this video at Saitama last year:

i'm probably getting second floor seats, is it too bad?

Lucky bastard I sold my extra ticket to was 4th row from stage, 1 seat from catwalk (I was next to catwalk) and caught the A ball for only $100 I think I sold it for. So yeah, definitely lucky.

@miki_beland: I think those would be fine seats, actually. You'll definitely have a good view of the stage, regardless. Given the way she set up the venue this year, it's going to give you the opportunity to see her rather nicely regardless of whether you're on the floor or in the upper arena block.

@Zeke.: Oh wow, that's impressive. Well-worth the $100 for that guy, I'd say ^_^.

I got Arena Block B1 and B4 seats!!! Looking forward so so so much!!!!!!!! I hope I can really get close to ayu this time~ I've spent so many concerts watching her from a distance, and the closest I've ever got was 9th row from the front and the interaction with everyone on stage was just awesome!!!!!! :D