Ayumi Hamasaki Sekai - View Single Post - ayumi hamasaki ARENA TOUR 2018 ~POWER of MUSIC 20th Anniversary ~ [III]
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Old 22nd April 2018, 03:12 PM
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CellaFae CellaFae is offline
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Join Date: Mar 2018
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I'm finally home from Japan and can write about my first Ayu concert experience!! AahhH~

April 7th 2018

First of all, I'm super impressed with how organized Japanese concerts are and how trusting everyone is! I loved the easy going atmosphere and I didn't feel stressed about security/bag checks or anything... because there was none! Super cool!

Going in, I tried to have zero expectations because we got our tickets last minute and I didn't care if I was all the way in the back, I was finally going to see my idol after 15 years! We ended up in the back, on the balcony which was fine because I could see everything and it was super cool~

I confess, the beginning was very rough... It suddenly just started and I was expecting a bit of an intro. Her voice was all over the place and quite cringe worthy I felt bad honestly! I've never been to any of her other concerts and only seen DVD versions so I didn't know how her voice really sounded live. As I listened I just figured it was due to her hearing loss that she's losing her tone. ; ;

One thing I love about Ayu is her emotion but I felt a lot of her crying and thrashing was very fake and it made me rather sad to see the truth outside the edited DVDs... :/

Beginning aside... I was ESTATIC with her song choices! OMG It was like the perfect set list for me! Every song I was punching my husband in excitement and yelling I LOVE THIS SONG! The nostalgia was hitting me like whoa! *v*

After reading some comments, I didn't know she never sang ever free before and it is one of my favorite songs so I was super happy to hear it! I didn't mind the rearrangement at all~

The audience was so cool to watch honestly! All synchronized with their glow sticks... I tried to mimic the movements with my empty hands ^^;; haha I wish I got one! I did feel like the energy was rather low. But I wasn't sure if it was just how concerts are in Japan? I wanted to keep screaming after a song and such but it got quiet after like 2 seconds and I felt awkward being that American in the back screaming her head off haha xD

I also noticed these guys in bright neon shirts would start the Ayu chant... is that normal? Were they placed there specifically through out the arena to get the crowd going? Idk but I do think it help with the silence haha

As the concert went on, it did get better for me. The songs were more lively and her voice evened out a bit.

I cried during Born To Be... for nostalgic reasons and it finally hit me that my dream came true and I was actually seeing my queen in person ;^; even if she was super far away! Hehe

It ended so suddenly! I'm so glad she did an encore! (the music they played before the encore did get rather annoying though xD)

The Encore was brilliant! Much better energy and Ayu looked like she was having more fun! Songs were amazing and I LOVED A Song is Born! I cried during this too because it truly is one of my all time favorites (fell in love with it after seeing her performance from her stadium tour 2002) aaahh so goooood!

Oh and I got a shirt as well! <3 We arrived an hour beforehand and the line was too long.. I was feeling so jealous of the girls next to me marveling at their purchases. My husband went out asking if he could buy merch during the concert and the security guy tried so hard to speak english to let us know we could after the show xD hehe so was able to get it afterwards, yay!

Over all I had a good time! It wasn't over the top with dancers and fancy costumes which at first I was a little disappointed about but then I realized I didn't need all that stuff for my dream to come true. I saw Ayu in person and heard her sing and celebrated with other fans. It was magical on it's own and I'm so glad I got to go!

Cheers! ^^v