There wouldn't be a point to having a different tour/theme if the setlists weren't going to be different.

She described it as "a very different chapter from the previous one" in her most recent TA entry...so, whatever that means.

I actually think the whole set list will be changed. Even though the arena performances were stripped down there are some things she won't be able to do in halls. If you think about it this isn't much different than the last couple of years when we had arena tours followed by TA limited lives...They just incorporated everything into a single tour and promoted everything together.

Sarcasm?

Since this chapter is gonna be a hall tour, I feel like she won't have too many air choreographies and do something smaller, like she did with TA Limited Live.

I think the whole setlist will be changed, she wouldn't divide them if not imo

But then it's ayu lol

I hope the encore changes too, besides the main setlist.

lol this. Expect the unexpected.

Let me see if I can dig up the article about the setlists.

The 'second part" begins with a new setlist.

There is the news that Yochan will leave the Ayu's band.
Does anyone have the clear information?

I think it's from this he posted about a-nation afterward.

http://www.pegmania.com/pg845.html

It does seem like Yocchan is leaving though. Basically his record of performing with Ayu stops here.

what??? I knew this day will come, but I don't want Yochan to leave T__T

From this day on. Oh, that's sad.
But sounds he's leaving on good terms.

This is sad news. Though I guess it had to happen sooner or later.

I can't believe it :(

It's gonna be a bit strange when people don't see Yocchan but who will be the guitarist then? Will they not have one since it's a hall? Or did she prepare for this last year around a-nation when she posted about this quote?

Not supprised at all, these days it seems like everyone's leaving the team. Sad.

That's sudden, I can't imagine Ayu without Yocchan. PECO and Enrique were shocks as well as some of the dancers (although more expected due to the physical nature of the job) but Yocchan is such a public-facing aspect of her show. I wonder if he'll be replaced or if they'll just not use heavy lead guitar songs for the tour...what a short timeframe though...

For some of the dancers, their leaves were temporary. Shuya left and came back then left again, haha. Basically they always can come back if they wish, but like... for GO-MI, he completely went to a different career path.

I think Yocchan's departure was probably discussed a while back but there was no reason to really announce it. Fans who go to sacrifice will wonder where he is if they have a band present without him there for sure.

I thought that he will stay with her until the end. So sad...

What??:no
Yochan can't leave. I specifically look forward to seeing him every time. I love him. Every time he comes forward to do some fancy guitar strumming I get excited. Ayu live will never be the same.

me too. very, very sad.

So I see Ayu is on tour for almost a year May-Feb. Are there any rumors of an album or Single anytime soon?

What has she released since Made in Japan? We are the Queens? Just making sure I didn't miss anything..

Halls have rock concerts all the time, so I'm sure he will be replaced like Enrique was. Still, I really did think he would always be with her. :(

She said not long ago that she is recording, but not rumours of an album or single.

Yes, We are the Queens is the last song we have.

Thanks :)

I think the decision might be more based on what her plans are for the future. I wonder if she'll return to arenas after the Olympics or go the route of everyone else and just do constant hall tours. TA 2016 had a drastically reduced presence of band and background singers...they were really only around for the acoustic performances, and the rest relied much more on pre-recorded tracks.

Granted, I think some of these halls are much bigger than Zepp venues, but if they're trying to reduce the overhead costs of her tours by moving to smaller venues, then some staff probably have to go (it'll be interesting to see if dancers and performers get reduced over time too).

GEEZ. No wonder that HANABI performance at a-nation was so stellar. They both probably knew it was going to be their last time performing together on stage for a long time... wow.

New rehearsal video with Microphone https://www.instagram.com/p/BYghCDoAouw/
No other spoilers inside

Didn't Namie Amuro have a live band in her concerts? Since Live Style 2011, she has been using studio tracks

On her instagram post, she says alongside being her first hall tour, the band members will NOT be present

No band? I really hope this isn't going to set a precedent.

No stage is too small for a live band. If it comes down to dancers or a band, I'd much rather have a band. It's... kind of the point of a live show. If the band need time off, they need time off though.

No band? Really? It makes me remin of her Summer Party :~

I believe TA Tour 2015 was in the halls but had a band for some of it but then TA Tour 2016 had no band at all?

NOOO! I am gutted about Yoshio, he was such a big part of Ayumi's concerts :( It won't be the same. At the same time, he has been with her since the beginning so it has to be expected.

I'm also not a fan of having a band at a live concert.

TA 2015 had a pretty prominent use of the band. I think it was really only the dance segment that they were around. In 2016 it was like 1 song that they used the band for. Even Timmy seemed more like a prop than a purposeful background singer.

I think the posts on social media have people wondering if Ayu is doing the right thing not having a band around for this set of the tour.

Hmm no band. And whatever it is, I hope Ayu wont stop doing the Arena Tours. Im used to her big stage and props and it is kinda sad(?) to see her doing only hall tours in the next years, well for me.

Omg I barely saw any dancers!! :woohoo::woohoo:

:cry

Wow, that's sad to hear... It's no Ayu concert with Yocchan, but it's no longer the case...

I mean, Yocchan has been a staple of Ayu's concert over the years... Hopefully he doesn't truly leave from Ayu's concerts, especially when hearing NONE of the band members will participate for the next part of Ayu's concert tour...

Speaking of that, with this hall tour, not sure how things will go. We'll just have to wait and see... But it's sad to hear Yocchan (at least) not participating (along with the band members) for the next part of the tour, but hopefully he is not down and out for future Ayu concerts...

(And let's not talk about the CDL just yet - especially the fact that the Yoyogi gymnasium is closed for Olympics renovations...)

I wonder if she plans to continue to have A CDL this year as a special date part of JTB chapter 2 or is she gonna take a break (she probably won't)

So, seems all next 51 lives of tour will be in halls or zepps without arenas.

Interesting. So part 2 is not the only one with halls? Strange.

I honestly don't get how any artist who is serious about their music would ever perform without a live band. What is the point of a LIVE concert if there is no live music? This is really disapointing. =(

This. Instead she should rid herself of those obnoxious dancers. Who seem to be the focal point of everything these days.

I agree. The band is more important than dancers. I'm not a big fan of dancers, acrobats and clowns.:rolleyes

I have to agree on that.

It is confirmed she's not using a live band for this chapter or just an speculation? I also wonder if after the third chapter there will be any kind of a big anniversary concert(s) in a dome or something. It'd be interesting.

Only recently did I think if Yocchan will ever leave and how that will be - and now it really happened? NOOOO! ToT And what's shocking is that it wasn't even announced beforehand.

The Just the beginning/"Is it an ending, is it a beginning" theme seemed a little frightening, but is this what she will be doing going forward? No band? No arenas? While I don't really care about the size of the avenues, no band at all would be shocking. I thought no band was only for the second chapter of the tour. Wasn't her first tour like that, Vol.1 without band and Vol.2 with?

Destroying what was to build something new - it's truely a very ayu thing to do. But isn't this a little overdoing it?
Well, I guess we have to wait and see what the future will bring.

It's confirmed for chapter 2 at least.

You're not there to watch and hear an orchestra and only the instrumentals. You're attending a singer concert, so the only thing that it needs to be live is the vocals. I understand that a live band gives a different feeling to the songs, but so it does recording the band prior to the concert and using it, instead of the original instrumentals of her songs.

I personally don't care about the band, as long as the stage is good enough and fresh enough, I will like it.

seriously...? honestly all these things happening didnt really build the hype for me for the 20th anniversary, it feels so different for sure from the 10th anniversary. Surely one of the reasons, Ayu isnt as active as her previous years.

Now with everything being reduced, I wonder if shes hinting us something? No budget? Dont know.

Waiting patiently for the next release and to see her direction afterwards...

I think she tries to save the budget for the third chapter. Don't worry, she can make a change of Yocchan who is just a part of her live. Ayu is still the soul of the live, isn't she?

Maybe she didn't know until now that Yochan is leaving? So she doesn't want to change him really fast, she wants the perfect one.

Honestly though, we also don't know how well (or not) the tickets are selling. This is a very different kind of tour for her, and if she's not selling out the halls, they may have had to really shake things up for chapter 2 to still be profitable. =\

If I'm going to a concert, I'm going to hear the music of the artist live, not just live vocals. The more live instruments, the better. There definitely is a difference regarding the sound with a live band and pre recorded tracks, it's not just the feeling. A concert without a live band simply is of less quality than one with. It's a shame Ayu seems to prefer being just a performer and is sacrificing (no pun intended) being an artist for it.

Now I know what "the sacrifice" means.

It's sad that Yocchan is leaving, but it's also natural... Her musicians and dancers are artists of their own and working for Ayu means spending lots of time on the artistic vision of other person.

About the band, I will wait until we see the actual concert before having an opinion about it...

That is really odd considering it looks like there will be a number of rock songs in the set. Size of the venue would have nothing to do with their being a band or not (I've seen lots of hall shows that had bands). Or maybe it could be to give her ears a little more of a break? Honestly, not having the live band, as much as I love them, might help her vocals. Her vocals these days are always best when the music is soft and she's not feeling like she needs to shout over the band. Getting rid of the band could be an effort to save both her ears and voice maybe.

I would much rather see her perform without dancers than without live band.

I wonder if the concert tickets aren't selling well. I don't know about Japan, but in my country if any well-known artist isn't filling the venues they discreetly give away a ton of tickets. Even I have received tickets to a ton of concerts I had no interest in, through my company.

Could it be that yochan left "because" ayu excluded the band from the tour. It does make sense if that's what happened.

^actually I thought the same

From her facebook post:
ちなみに第2章用の音源も、a-nation終わりで一座バンドメンバー集合してレコーディングしてくれたんだよ❤️楽しみにしててね！泣 けるぜっ！！
Translation: By the way, the music for chapter 2 was recorded by group of band members at a-nation end. It's gonna make you cry.

So this means instead of a live band present, fans are going to being hear a recording of the live band performance for Chapter 2 which will be emotional? (new arrangements possibly?)

Seems Ayu was getting asked about it a lot on her site and stuff and she has officially said there's no graduations happening because of this!

So happy but Japanese fans really must have been hammering her with questions, haha.

For what I got (please correct me if I'm wrong) no one is really leaving the band, the band recorded the music for chapter 2 already, so it won't be live but it won't the same studio tracks neither.

Haha japanese fans did a good job this time!

Love that Ayu posted on her Insta and another pic of her and Yochan on Twitter. Sooo happy that Yochan IS NOT leaving the troupe . Yokatta!

Ayu said hes always be her left hand :love

Yeah!! I'm so happy

With pre recorded tracks ayu will not be able to change set list much.

It's possible she planned ahead for that kind of thing.

I'm glad that Yocchan isn't leaving. ;_;
If he left I'd think there'd be a proper graduation and not only a comment on his blog saying "I've stopped". lol That part DID seem weird. I'd think they'd give the fans a proper way to say good-bye. I'd imagine some people thought "If I'd known this was the last time Yocchan performed, I would've gone to a-nation."

I've been wishing that Ayu did more concerts like Power of Music, with more focus on singing and the musicians... but she's going in the opposite direction. :(

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http://i.imgur.com/UtAqh9Ll.jpg

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I feel the concerts have become more and more choreographed throughout the years to the point where even her emotions feel choreoprahed. She shines the most when it's only her and the band. Heartplace from the TA 2015 tour was pretty amazing to watch. She was so into it.
I also like MIJ, because it felt like a good mix between emotions and choreography. Mad World shows how you can express something meaningful through simple means, you don't need fancy costumes and props.
I understand her wish to show the audience a dream world, but I prefer it when she lets the dancers dance, because that's what they're for, and when she herself concentrates on singing.

YAS GURL!!! So Timmy will be present but not the band?!

I totally agree : I think Power of Music is her really best concert tour ever made !!!!! Music and atmosphere were perfect !!!!:love:love:love:love

I think Ayu's concerts startong from 2008 were all choreographed including her emotions. Even when watching MIJ Ive been wondering did she really cry?? Maybe the real tears were during My all other than that shes forcing it (?), well she is really good at it now :P

Timmy is a half naked prop

Yeah, I miss when the performances were mainly just her and the band.

Wow really?? Timmy can be there but yochan gets excluded?? This is weird

She can do whatever she wants in her live shows, I don't care. Just as long as she drops Timmy.

I used to love the dancers and felt impressed by what they would do. But the last 5 years give or take has become a bit much. Almost like Ayu shares her concert with them. And Timmy is always there half naked. He is in quite good shape but it is just stupid to me. The tears do feel fake these days too.:shrug
Ayu shines when the band is more prominent.:yes

yes please. Or the least she can do is put some nice clothes on that guy like at PoM Tour.

I like Timmy, he seems like a nice guy, but I honestly don't wanna see his genitals in tight panties ever again.

I love Timmy too, but isn't he also part of the band?? Or am I missing something. Nonetheless I'm sure I'll end up loving the overall show, band or not.

I start thinking that they are doing this on purpose as a running gag o.o

http://i.imgur.com/meTOPUo.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/uI1zN7nl.png

I'm interested in live photos

I wish she kept Timmy hidden in the background with some DECENT CLOTHES.

God, the awful outfits he keeps wearing on these concerts. MY EYES!

He looks like a stripper lol. He is funny to watch, but I think it's a bit too much for a concert. :D

SEPCIAL xD

I like Timmy, when you see an ayu concert there, you just focus on Ayu and you don't see anyone else.
But I agree on DVD dancers and other members got too much spotlight.

Seems I have immunity to see typos :/

yeah disappointing much and we missed those moments when ayu is singing, turn me off

Timmy's clothes are inspired in dancers from Shinjuku ni chome (the gay district in Tokyo). You can see some pictures here:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BYNLF3pl...-by=rioto_nono
https://www.instagram.com/p/BLZ0MkZD...n-by=vitatokyo
http://gaytraveljapan.com/images/guide/8_2.jpg

Few months ago Ayu said in instagram she usually goes to Shinjuku nichome and she loves it so it's not crazy to think she took inspiration from there. We cannot forget that Ayu is a big gay icon in Japan. She has many drags impersonators (there are really good ones)

I know and understand where she got the idea. But it's so repetitive!

I don't mind Timmy, I actually think a male chorus complements Ayu well, but those a-nation diapers were ridiculous. lol

I'd likely cry a lot, too, so I have no reason to doubt that her tears are genuine.

I think that over the years "Hamasaki Ayumi" has more and more become a brand. Her staff, the band, the dancers - everyone is "Hamasaki Ayumi". I think to her "Hamasaki Ayumi" was always the sum of the work of everyone involved - Present hints at that.
It's great that she has people around her she can trust and that might even be like family to her, but I noticed years ago that I feel a little detached in a way. In the past when she released a single you got a whole package. The music, the cover, the PV - everything felt like there was a theme that tied everything together. You only have to look at the mess the Rule/Sparkle single is. You have the neon covers, the GokuAyu CD design, the Rule PV - everything feels so random. Later it turned out that the Sparkle PV is a darker version of the single covers.
Nowadays (though it started years ago) the music is where "Hamasaki Ayumi" is the most "Ayu".

SEPCIAL? Jesus H Roosevelt Christ

I also think Timmy is annoying but I think he's so important for Ayu's audience. Being LGBTQ is still a taboo in Japan so I think the role of Timmy is very important. And knowing that his inspiration comes from Ni-Chome is even better. Mabe her japanese gay audience feels represented by Timmy and can be inspired to keep being authentic and loving themselves however they are. That's the meaning I get behinf Timmy's persona.

I don't have a issue with Timmy, but lately his costumes are too much. I know Ayu is the one behind that...
Otherwise, I like his voice.

I love that Ayu is a gay icon in Japan, but I still don't like Timmy.

o my god. SEPCIAL.
This is outrageous!

Doesn't anyone check anything anymore?

My first thought was "Jesus!". It's a nice banner if it weren't for the typo!

It seems Ayu has an one dimensional idea of what a gay person is..a big great dame that she can dress up and make perform like a clown.

If the way Ayu makes Timmy dress isn't just bad taste and has anything to do with what she thinks a gay man should look like, she's pretty homophobic. Or maybe the gay men I know are simply doing it wrong by wearing jeans.
But honestly, every time I see Timmy on stage, I feel very sorry for him. His costumes are humiliating. I mean, who would let A FRIEND in front of thousands dress in a way that you can almost see his penis and just wait for his balls to drop out of his panties?

I'm pretty sure she doesn't see Timmy as the only gay person in the world, even because she HAS represented gay people on different ways over the years.

@ExodusUK @Chibi-Chan Both of you must be kidding or don't have any idea what you're talking about.

It's not that Timmy "is the idea of what a gay person is" for Ayu, he is dressed like any gogo you can find in any gay disco in Tokyo. I think Timmy is not representing gay people, he's representing a part of gay culture (japanese gay culture more especifically) and the roots of gay culture has feathers, leather and drag. You like it or not.

It's right you don't like it. Everyone has his/her own taste but don't call it ridiculous just because you don't get the message behind those clothes because, believe me, it's deeper than you think in a big city like Tokyo where Nichome is like 2 or 3 streets.

And maybe Timmy is Ayu's friend but don't forget he is working and getting paid for wearing that clothes. And seeing his instagram I don't think he cares...