[namiie]

I thought the opening with "evolution" is the BEST performance of "evolution" Ayu's done in the past, oh...5 years. The piano accompaniment kicking into the pumped-up second verse/chorus was amazing!

I also cannot praise the "part of Me" performance enough. The costumes for this sequence are the loveliest Ayu's had in years--both her own and the dancers. The story behind the performance was touching yet doesn't border cheesy. The vocals were not top notch but decent.

I thought the performance of "M" did not live up to the grandeur of the song. The costumes/dance sequence aren't bad...just a little mediocre. The matador costumes (male dancers) were interesting though, as the way the "appears" performance was carried out.

Oh yeah, "until that Day..." was AMAZING. I laughed myself into a coma at the male dancers' costumes though. I mean really. The dominatrix spider look? Not flattering on anyone....Ayu's looked fine though, and her vocals were off the hook for this one. The energy was awesome. I was kinda taken aback at the touchy-feeliness of the some parts though, but it wasn't that bad.

The only costume that made me CRINGE was the "kiss o kill" costume. I mean, WTF. It just screams Xena, Warrior Princess in Space to me. And the black caped creepers with the masks? Yeah, not artistic or cool, just all over the place. And the vocalization at the beginning was not impressive...just annoying. The cross is old and annoying too. I'm not religious or anything but I just don't like it when religious symbols are used for fun like that. =T This set did not do "kiss o kill" justice. I was expecting more.

My favorite performance would have to be BOYS & GIRLS. Just like with "evolution", this performance was her best in a number of years. From the fabulous Brazilian feather costumes to the strength of Ayu's voice to the energy pouring forth from every note, this number totally blew me away!

The encore was ok. Vocals sucked toward the end, but that's ok. She was tired. Overall, I think AT07 is definitely worth buying (well, too late for me anyway haha) but I think as a whole I prefer AT06 better, just because the vocals were more consistent and the costumes were a little better designed. Individual performances from this AT are better than AT06, but AS A WHOLE, AT06 wins.