[Official Message] ～A BEST LIVE～ DVD/BD on 2013.10.30 + Live CD on 2013.9.18 #2

[Livey~]

There's really a little bit of everything in this tour.
The stage is almost identical to the RnRC one, with some changes.
I can see something like do you remember this? It suits the BEST concept, I think.

Oh, and vocals don't seem as edited as for the CD, which is good.. or maybe is it just me?

[Neko★munication]

It looks way better than I expected... or I guess that's kind of inaccurate because I already expected it to look better since it always does when compared to the few pics/news clips we get All to say it looks really great!! I love the use of screens and Ayu sounds and looks awesome.

I don't think it'll beat HLs for me but it still looks like it'll be a blast to watch

[marty]

Wha, this tour looks so pretty!
It still isn't nowhere near the last three tours we had, from what I can see (but even Ayu said she felt HOTEL Love Songs was her best tour, and I don't think A BEST was made for competing with that), but it seems neat and lovely. I can't wait to see it! I really loved the SURREAL bit! <3

[Yoake]

Originally Posted by RealLight

This concert looks great! I hope I'll be able to watch it quickly after my package'll be arrived at home.

[ayu_fantasy]

Well she looks so pretty!! Doesn't look 35 at all... I thought she looked my age... Which is 25.. Lol

[ohsixthirty]

wait...Sakura isn't there? i saw her perform it in Yokohama, but did she not perform it later or something? :'(

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by ohsixthirty

wait...Sakura isn't there? i saw her perform it in Yokohama, but did she not perform it later or something? :'(

The song was composed to her long time friend and driver who was sick and he died, so, she axed it from the tour.

[ohsixthirty]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

The song was composed to her long time friend and driver who was sick and he died, so, she axed it from the tour.

oh...i didn't know that. i remember her driver died, but i didn't know Sakura was for him. do you remember where she said that?

anyway, its a shame. that performance was one of my favorites from the concert.

[Neko★munication]

Originally Posted by ohsixthirty

oh...i didn't know that. i remember her driver died, but i didn't know Sakura was for him. do you remember where she said that?

anyway, its a shame. that performance was one of my favorites from the concert.

Iirc, the song wasn't for him, but he listened to it on his deathbed and wrote about it and I think Ayu started to associate that with him. She never actually gave a reason for cutting SAKURA, but this seems to be the generally accepted conclusion.

Originally Posted by ExodusUK

I kinda agree with this..I feel like all her tours (other than PoM) have followed the same template and formula since 2005..it's time for Ayu to throw everything into the trash and start again like she did then.

I sorta agree, though the past two years - with HLs and more obviously PoM - diverged significantly enough, and her going going back to the usual fare for this tour doesn't perturb me that much, this being a "Best" tour. Part of me kind of likes the formulaic way Ayu's concerts work - I love comparing all her different "cute" sections and all her different "ballad" sections and it makes even the smaller changes more exciting, as well as all the callbacks. Idk, formulaic or not, Ayu's tours have never been boring.

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by ohsixthirty

oh...i didn't know that. i remember her driver died, but i didn't know Sakura was for him. do you remember where she said that?

anyway, its a shame. that performance was one of my favorites from the concert.

They (Ayu and the driver) discussed it on twitter... And he thanked her for that music...

Originally Posted by Heavenly

I just think that Namie didn't get her audience to a "routine".
She has a different way of working than Ayu :
Namie constantly changes her creative team, she tries new things, surprises her audience, whereas Ayu stays on what has been working for almost 10 years and only makes minor changes at a time.

Sorry, but I have to disagree... IMO Namie's concert look all the same (and yes, I have watched them).

It's always a stage with a stair (so she can perform a stair choreography), there's almost always a pole (for pole choreography), the outifits are almost always variation of knee high boots + mini-skirts or baggy pants + sneakers and even the setlist is not THAT surprising. I like some of her tours (Past<Future, Best Fiction, Live Style 2, Live Style 1 sux), but I know I will always see the same thing... Namie singing/dancing with the same style of choreography wearing a variation of something she always wear.

[perfectodub]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

They (Ayu and the driver) discussed it on twitter... And he thanked her for that music...



Sorry, but I have to disagree... IMO Namie's concert look all the same (and yes, I have watched them).

It's always a stage with a stair (so she can perform a stair choreography), there's almost always a pole (for pole choreography), the outifits are almost always variation of knee high boots + mini-skirts or baggy pants + sneakers and even the setlist is not THAT surprising. I like some of her tours (Past<Future, Best Fiction, Live Style 2, Live Style 1 sux), but I know I will always see the same thing... Namie singing/dancing with the same style of choreography wearing a variation of something she always wear.

Interesting, I've seen just a few of her concerts, i know that she always is trying new songs but her concert visually and choreography are very the same thing.

well, i know this is a special year for ayu because the anniversary thing.
and this kind of years are always about "GREATEST HITS" everywhere.

maybe the CDL of the end of the year it gonna show us some clues about what new things and ideas are coming for the 2014
for me the best of the year was LOVE again album...and the worst...i think this greatest hit cheap tour

[njanjayrp]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

They (Ayu and the driver) discussed it on twitter... And he thanked her for that music...



Sorry, but I have to disagree... IMO Namie's concert look all the same (and yes, I have watched them).

It's always a stage with a stair (so she can perform a stair choreography), there's almost always a pole (for pole choreography), the outifits are almost always variation of knee high boots + mini-skirts or baggy pants + sneakers and even the setlist is not THAT surprising. I like some of her tours (Past<Future, Best Fiction, Live Style 2, Live Style 1 sux), but I know I will always see the same thing... Namie singing/dancing with the same style of choreography wearing a variation of something she always wear.

I feel the same I couldnt even bring myself to see the last two concerts because even the stage is always forgettable. She always has the same hair styles, similar costumes which look good on her, but you forget them the moment the concert ends...

At least from time to time Ayu adds something that makes me WOW not to mention that Namie is far too robot like sometimes when she is on stage...

[pimenta]

I'm looking forward for watching this tour. Yes, it's a lot of performances she already did before, but it must be super cool to watch all those together in one single concert! It truly is a "A BEST LIVE" concert, the name is actually really accurate

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

Sorry, but I have to disagree... IMO Namie's concert look all the same (and yes, I have watched them).

It's always a stage with a stair (so she can perform a stair choreography), there's almost always a pole (for pole choreography), the outifits are almost always variation of knee high boots + mini-skirts or baggy pants + sneakers and even the setlist is not THAT surprising. I like some of her tours (Past<Future, Best Fiction, Live Style 2, Live Style 1 sux), but I know I will always see the same thing... Namie singing/dancing with the same style of choreography wearing a variation of something she always wear.

I have to agree, I love Namie, but her tours are barely creative at all... I love some of them (mostly because of the setlist than the visuals), but some others are plain boring imo. Even when people complain Ayu is repeating herself, she is repeating memorable performances that did mark fans before, and that's pretty much why people notice she's repeating, because the first time she did them people were impressed by them and still remember those. For Namie's tours though, very little performances are that memorable that people will complain if she does something similar again (her tours are always similar)...


Musically wise, on the other hand, it's true Namie keeps innovating herself (and herself only, because her songs are getting more and more generic imo), she's constantly changing her songs style (if that's a good or bad thing, that's another story, I personally don't like that super generic pop phase she's in right now). But Ayu's changing as well, if she wasn't people wouldn't be complaining all the time that she should release more songs like her older ones...

[truehappiness]

I think it's because Ayu has such a big hand in anything regarding her brand/image and typically is in charge of everything that we don't see as much change. It's a lot easier with an act like Namie imo to switch things up. The same goes for Perfume and some other acts. Unless however I'm wrong and Namie is somehow just as behind everything she does as Ayu is.

[truehappiness]

Next year should be interesting. I wonder if she'll mix LOVE again and the next album (if it's coming).

[KLJames]

hopefully she eventually will axe shuya out of her ballad performances...

[ayu-michan]

Originally Posted by KLJames

hopefully she eventually will axe shuya out of her ballad performances...

I love Shu-ya a lot but yeah sometimes, just sometimes, her alone performing ballads might be better.

[brener]

Originally Posted by ayu-michan

I love Shu-ya a lot but yeah sometimes, just sometimes, her alone performing ballads might be better.

this. just like HANABI perf. from this year's a-nation <3

[KLJames]

Originally Posted by ayu-michan

I love Shu-ya a lot but yeah sometimes, just sometimes, her alone performing ballads might be better.

i like him, eg identity @ next level tour, just, he always turn annoying for me when ayu performing ballad

[truehappiness]

I do miss when she would perform ballads without a flailing dancer. Like her a-nation HANABIs and such.