[04/08/08] 10th Anniversary Concert Report

[sexysaucestar]

Sorry it took me a few days to post this up...I actually do not have ready Internet access here in Japan yet, so I am just going around to Internet cafes. Anyway, I checked to see if anyone posted up anything from that day, doesn`t look like it, so here`s my report. I haven`t read yatsuda`s yet, so I apologise for any duplications. Please enjoy! =)

Disclaimer: I do warn you, the report is long....

Ayumi Hamasaki – 10th Anniversary Concert ~Asia Tour 2008~ April 8, 2008

I didn’t think I would get to see Ayu in concert again after seeing her twice for the 2006 Arena Tour. However, it has been two years since I have been in Japan, and at the beginning of this year (2008), I decided one of my “resolutions”/goals for the year was to go back to Japan, meet up with some old friends, and hope to get a ticket to Ayu’s tour since it is her tenth year in the music world.

For the first few months of the year, I tried very hard to get a ticket to the tour, but for awhile, it really looked hopeless since most of the auctions on Yahoo! Auctions were going way above my maximum price (20,000 yen); I set off for Japan on March 31, pretty much settling that I probably would not be able to attend the concert at all and being okay with that option.

Arriving in Japan on April 1, I was pleasantly surprised with an email from my friend, Mayumi, who had been helping me find a ticket for Ayu’s tour. She said to me that she was finally able to get me a ticket in the Arena C block area. Wow, what luck! I was sure I would not be able to get a ticket at my maximum price (I know Mayumi and I both saw an auction for choice A block seats for 200,000 yen!).

So the day of the concert arrived, and I still couldn’t believe that I was actually going back to Ayu’s concert at Yoyogi. The weather that day was unfortunately not so fun: spring rain and some bursts of wind. I arrived in Harajuku in the late morning, spending some time at an Internet café to catch up on some emails and such. I went to Yoyogi Stadium around 3:30pm to give myself some time to buy goods and just wait around for the doors to open.

The line for the goods was incredibly insane: it stretched all the way towards the second gymnasium and took a good thirty minutes to get to the actual goods stand. When it was my turn to finally get to the goods stand, I was a little disappointed to find that the Uchiwa was still not available for sale, and I was not about to settle for the light stick. I decided to go for the rubber bands and the Ayu chips, which were both random items for sale, but nonetheless somewhat amusing. Ayu chips? I don’t know if I should open up the bag and try them or preserve them like an insane collector.

Well, after buying my goods, I didn’t want to go anywhere else, so I stood around for an hour and a half waiting for the doors to open. That was probably the most miserable part of the whole concert experience: just waiting in the rain and wind, feeling my hands almost go numb and feeling like the water leaked in through my shoes.

When the doors finally opened, I went through the arena seating area entrance (different from the stands area entrance) and found my seat. It was located on the far left of the arena area, which caused for the view of the front stage to be a little far, but the center stage was at a decent distance. In the concert pamphlet that the workers handed out, there was a pink insert of the fans’ special surprise to Ayu for her tenth anniversary: after Yocchan was to tell us “1,2,3...” during the MC portion of the show, we were all to sing the final chorus from “Who…” for Ayu.

The wait for the start of the show was actually not too long; once the lights dimmed, everyone became pumped and stood up to get ready for Ayu’s entrance. Both interludes from GUILTY were played; then Ayu made a pretty dramatic opening. Most of the songs were from GUILTY, but there was a considerable amount of older songs sprinkled throughout the show. I felt like Ayu liked surprising us several times, by making us fans think that she was going to sing a certain song, but then changed it up on us on purpose (you will see what I mean in the setlist notes).

During the MC portion, there were several videos shown on the screen for Ayu from various celebrities, including DJ Ozma. They were all congratulating Ayu on her tenth anniversary and wishing her the best of luck for more years to come. DJ Ozma specifically said that “Ayu will become stronger/more popular/more well known all around the world!” When it was time for the fans to sing “Who…” to Ayu, a little commemoration of all her releases flashed across the two side screens, and on the center screen we could see Ayu start to cry from joy. When we all sang “Who…” to Ayu, she cried even more, which made me want to cry along with her.

Overall, I really thoroughly enjoyed the concert; despite seeing Ayu in concert three times before, I did not cease to be amazed by the power of her voice in a live. I felt much more appreciative of this concert because of the news of her hearing loss from earlier in the year—hearing Ayu sing so strongly shows that she still has strength to go on.

After the concert, it was the usual hustle and bustle out of the stadium—fans all received the familiar post-concert mobile card for accessing special contents on mobile web. The card said that there would be a special “Thank you” email from Ayu sent to cell phone emails for those fans who fill out a short survey. I decided that it would not hurt to try it out, since the Japanese used on the card and website were relatively easy for me to understand. So I filled out the survey (it was mainly about my thoughts on the concert, goods, Ayu, music in general), and in the end I got two “presents” on the phone: the thank you email from Ayu (which I will post at the end of this report) and a wallpaper/graphic for the cell phone of Ayu’s Mirrorcle World cover (cover A).

What could have made this experience better than it already was was if I had been able to get a friend to come along with me—my Japanese friends all were busy on that night, and none of my American friends could make it over to Japan with me at the time (due to school, work, etc.). However, I still had a great time, and don’t regret the experience at all.

Setlist and Notes:

1. ReBIRTH – The first interlude to be played from GUILTY; all of Ayu’s singles/releases were flashed across the side screens as the interlude played. Very fitting as an opening.

2. Judgement Day – Good “foreshadowing” of what the opening song was to be. The anticipation fit the interlude well.

3. talkin’ 2 myself – Wow, Ayu opened with the last couple lines from the chorus, which caused for her entrance to be dramatic. After she sang the lines, some fire sparked on the stage and the band went full force into the opening of the song.

4. is this LOVE? – I don’t remember if Ayu and the band went straight into this song after the previous song, but I felt a little nostalgic hearing this song live again (it was played at the 2006 tour as well). Listening to Peko and Princess harmonize with Ayu during the “Whoa whoa yeah” parts always blows me away.

5. Depend on You – Okay, this was where the first surprise happened from Ayu. The screens lighted up with the first mini-skit, and it showed Ayu in a pink, cute schoolgirl outfit. Other fans were giggling at how cute Ayu was on the screen, waving and chiding us to follow her; then, Ayu mouthed “1, 2, 3” in the robotic “STEP you” voice, so I immediately thought the next song was going to be “STEP you”. The skit continued with all the dancers appearing on the screen (first the girls, then the guys), and just showing them all try to chase each other (well, the guys chase the girls) for their attention/love. After awhile, all the girls stop accepting the flowers/kind gestures from the guys and the guys are left wondering what they had done wrong.

The screens then dimmed; Ayu and her dancers appeared on the stage, and instead of starting to sing “STEP you”, Ayu went right into “Depend on You”. She sang the song in a slightly nasal tone, which I didn’t really like too much, but the song was still nice to hear live.

6. Fly High – Right after “Depend on You”, Ayu went immediately into “Fly High,” and got the whole crowd going with the dance. Was nice to hear another older song right after “Depend on You”.

7. (don’t) Leave Me Alone – Another skit began to play on the screen before the next song. The skit was a rather dark theme, with Ayu looking worried/scared and some of her female dancers running around, looking like they were searching for someone (Ayu). Ayu was actually hiding from them, and was doing a good job of that until a cat randomly appeared in the scene and broke a glass cup. Then, a chase scene ensued with the dancers trying to find Ayu and Ayu running, looking like she was scared for her life. There are flashbacks to scenes of the dancers/”bad guys” chaining Ayu up on a wooden wheel and Ayu thrashing to get herself loose. The scene ends with Ayu looking to almost escape from the bad guys, when they surprise her and end up taking her back to the wheel to chain her back up.

The opening music to “(don’t) Leave Me Alone” began and Ayu appeared on stage chained to the wheel. I was really happy to hear the song being performed live, since the song had recently become one of my favorites. Ayu left the audience a little awestruck when the wheel began turning around and Ayu continued to sing. During one point, Ayu was actually hanging upside down on the wheel, which made me feel a little nauseous thinking about how that might have felt for her. After awhile, Ayu was able to free herself from the wheel, and walked around on the front stage for the remainder of the song.

8. decision – I probably did not notice during “(don’t) Leave Me Alone,” but Ayu was wearing a red corset dress under the suit outfit. During decision, Ayu ended up taking off the suit jacket and revealed the corset top, which I must admit was somewhat sexy. During this song, Ayu finally made her way to the center stage, so I got to see Ayu a little closer at this point.

9. my name’s WOMEN – The whips came out for this song, and the center stage actually became elevated during the chorus part of the song! It was fun to see the stage go up, since it allowed for me to have a slightly better view.

10. Marionette Prelude – Another skit appeared on the screen, and it seemed to pretty much be a variation/prelude to the original PV. It shows the “real” Ayu walking around, looking at the marionette dolls lying about, and connecting them back to the little carousel display (not quite sure of the correct name for this).

11. Marionette – The screens went black and the music began playing; we heard Ayu start to sing, but the whole stage was still dark, so there was some confusion as to where she was. When the lights finally came on, we were surprised by Ayu appearing on the center stage out of nowhere. The male dancers and the carousel contraption came up during the first chorus; was awesome to see the carousel up close and personal. The song ended with the screens lighting up again and showing the “conclusion” to the PV: the clock strikes midnight, and in actuality the “real” Ayu was the marionette and the guy dancers open up the “house” that Ayu was in and they laugh at her.

12. HANABI – A gold scene appears shortly after Marionette ends, and we see golden steps in the clouds, with Ayu’s back to the crowd. Ayu slowly turns around, is wearing a crown, and looks upset; shortly thereafter, Shuya appears at the bottom of the steps and looks to be approaching Ayu, coming to save her or reunite with her. As Shuya walks up the steps, the steps suddenly begin to crumble and he falls away (this scene made me laugh a little bit, because their expressions just seemed so exaggerated for a dramatic scene). Ayu begins to cry as she watches him fall away, and she sits on the steps and cries for the remainder of the scene. Meanwhile, the music playing during the whole skit was very mesmerizing—I actually was dying of anticipation during this skit, since I did not recognize the music at all, but it sounded really cool, rock-like.

After the screen dims, the music for HANABI starts to play, and Ayu appears on stage in the skit outfit. The performance was somewhat reminiscent of Arena Tour 06’s “Rainy Day” performance. Also during this performance, Ayu’s tattoo was very visible for the crowd to see.

13. End Roll – I thought this song was rather random for the setlist (mainly because I have not heard this song in so long). A ribbon gymnast (not sure of the correct name?) was performing suspension acts in the background while Ayu sang. The visuals were very nice and awe inspiring.

14. SURREAL – A rock interlude played and nothing was on the screen; suddenly, the music began for “SURREAL” and I became so excited (“SURREAL” is one of my all-time favorite songs). Ayu was wearing a cadet kind of uniform with a gold corset, and Yocchan performed a rocking solo during the instrumental bridge of the song. Ah, here was where another surprise appeared: as Ayu neared the climax of the song, I was anticipating the “La la la lai” part, when suddenly…

15. evolution – Ayu and the band immediately jump into singing “evolution.” I found it an odd transition, but nonetheless exciting. She sang the full “evolution” song before she jumped back into the finale of “SURREAL”. It was a fun twist.

16. Mirrorcle World – As if there couldn’t be any more surprises: I was pleasantly surprised that Ayu sang “Mirrorcle World” for the tour. I guess I was slightly expecting it, but was not sure if she would indeed include it in the tour anyway. The song was super-rockin’ live; during this performance, Ayu was on top of a flying ship. This was the finale to the program.

Encore/MC

During the break between the program and the encore, the side screens showed the “A” mark spinning, clapping, and doing other sorts of things: golfing, covered in sakura, playing a guitar (was supposed to be Yocchan announcing “Yeah, 10th anniversary!”), and beat dancing.

17. Dearest – Ayu came running out in T-shirt and jeans (the usual Encore outfit) plus a beret and shouted “Yay!” to the crowd. She announced for us to listen to her carefully during the next song, and we all sat down. When the music began for “Dearest,” I started to cry, and continued to cry throughout the first part of the song. This was the very first Ayu song I had heard back in 2002, and since that moment, the song has held a very special meaning to me. That explains why I began to cry: the fact that I was listening to Ayu sing it live made it so much more special.

18. Voyage – Right after “Dearest,” the music for “Voyage” began, which made me also feel a little emotional. Ayu sang both songs very beautifully.

After the two songs, the MC began, and Yocchan announced the release of “Mirrorcle World” that day. He also said how Ayu ate a late bento lunch around 1:30pm, and requested for Ayu to practice “Life” with the band at the moment. The whole situation seemed a bit staged, since Ayu was all, “Oh, but I haven’t practiced it in awhile; I am so nervous!” But of course, with encouragement from the crowd, Ayu and the band performed the song.

19. Life – I didn’t really have much to comment on the song since it was my first time hearing it in general. Was nice to hear the B-side of “Mirrorcle World” single though.

After performing “Life,” Ayu said once again, “Oh, I was so nervous!”. Then, the MC portion continued, and some videos flashed across the screen of various celebrities congratulating Ayu on her 10th anniversary and hoping for her to continue singing for many years to come.

Then, it was time for the audience to sing “Who…” to Ayu as the side screens showed all of Ayu’s releases flashing across the screen. As mentioned before, Ayu began to cry during the slideshow, and when the audience began to sing the final chorus from “Who…”, Ayu began to cry much more.

After the audience singing, Ayu’s staff presented her with a huge 10th anniversary cake decorated with various Ayupan. As usual, Ayu asked to have a picture taken with the cake and the audience, so I got to be in the picture (kind of, haha).

At the end of the MC, Shin got hold of the microphone and taught us audience members a new dance for the final song, “MY ALL”. It was a relatively simple para-para, but we had to practice a few times through since Shin kept messing up the counting as well.

20. Independent – After the MC/para-para tutorial, Ayu performed “Independent.” She and her dancers walked out onto the center stage and threw some balls to the lucky fans surrounding that area. Fun, energetic song for the final portion of the concert.

21. Boys & Girls – A staple of Ayu’s tours; as usual, we fans got to sing bits and pieces of the song, and I was impressed with how we all sang in near-perfect unison.

22. MY ALL – Somehow, when I first heard this song on the GUILTY album, I was thinking to myself, “This would be a good finale song for a tour.” I guess Ayu thought the same thing; the concert ended very well with this song. The para-para was hard to follow at a few times, but by the end, I got the hang of it.

Overall, great setlist; there were of course some songs I was wanting to hear, i.e., “Together When…”, A Song for XX, and a few others. However, I was not disappointed with the setlist anyway. I hope Ayu will be performing for many more years to come, if she continues to stay strong.

Addendum
This is Ayu’s “Thank You Message” that fans were able to receive if they filled out the survey provided from the mobile card at the end of the show:

Subject: AYUからのサンキューメール

Yeah!!
今日は記念すべき10th Anniversaryライヴにようこそ。
ほんっと、あっと言う間の10年だったけど、いつも応援してくれたみんなに感謝してま～す。
今日は、いろんなサプライズでびっくりしたけどみんなで歌ってくれた「Who…」すごく感激しました。ほん とにありがと～
今年のASIA TOURではこれから半年ぐらい旅に行くけど、今日みんなから貰ったPowerと愛を持って、最後まで頑張 ってまた東京に戻ってくるからね。

またあえる日を楽しみに！！AYUでした。

PS,今日発売の10周年記念シングル「Mirrorcle World」もヨロシク。



Translation:

Subject: Ayu’s Thank You Mail

Yeah!
By all means, welcome to today’s 10th Anniverary Live Commemoration.
Really, after saying that it has been ten years, I give everyone’s support my greatest gratitude.
Today, there were many surprises that happened, but when everyone sang to me “Who…” I really felt a strong emotion. Really, thank you~
Even though this year’s ASIA TOUR will take me half a year of traveling, today everyone gave me power and love. Until the final, I will try my hardest and return to Tokyo for you all again.

Until that exciting day comes!! From Ayu.

P.S. Also, please don’t forget today’s sale of the 10th Anniversary Commemoriation single, “Mirrorcle World”. *wink*

[minkAYuko]

Wow thank you for the report! it was fun to read do you think you could elaborate more on the mirrorcle world and marionette? we have read that this big carousel and flying ship come out of nowhere and they are super big? is this true?

and who else congratulates ayu on the clips?

Thanks again!! lucky you! >_<

[Catzi]

This concert seems amazing. O_O You were so lucky.

[leo_nardez]

Thanks for the report~
i really enjoy reading it~

[se7entheaven]

Maybe I'm gonna change my mind soon
soysauceter
could u please explain some more about the talkin' 2 myself part? is she singing like evolution in AT07? what do u mean by the last 2 lines of the chorus?
then how's the carousel? ayu's in it or how? (in Marionette)
then what about the ship?

what abt the costumes
sorry askin 2 much

[Suteisi]

Thanks for all the details! ^-^
The concert definitely looks awesome~ I hope I'm lucky enough to go next year.

[prussian blue]

thx for the report~
*imagination"ing"*

[AyUmIXx]

oh thanks so much!!
i could feel how excited to be on the 10th anniversary concert!!!
i wish i was there!!

and i almost cried reading the parts when you cried too..
geee.... can't imagine if i was really there...

wish to be on Ayu's 10th anniversary too!!

[ayumisrael]

Thank you very much!
Sounds like it was an amazing show and you had a huge time ^___^.

[Melrose]

Cool, thx.~ So basically HANABI and End roll were pretty boring? Not cool looking like part of Me AT07? Also, it seems like (don't) Leave me alone is kind of boring too? Considering she's on a wheel the entire song until the final chorus, where she is only walking around a bit lol.

[Deneb]

wow, very detailed,amazing and long xD report. thanks for the updates ^^

[Neo Daydream]

thanks for the report, Helene!! ^^

[Queen Bee]

Thanks for the report! Now I really can't wait to see this!

[AyuHamasaki01]

Thanks!
I hope they will include "Life" in the DVD.

[fanmail]

I really cherished reading this. I would die to see Ayu perform, especially a concert as amazing as this sounds

I really loved this report. This is the first that I actually sat down and fully read. Thanks so much for this. I'm glad you got to hear Dearest live.

[truehappiness]

After the audience singing, Ayu’s staff presented her with a huge 10th anniversary cake decorated with various Ayupan. As usual, Ayu asked to have a picture taken with the cake and the audience, so I got to be in the picture (kind of, haha).

They look kinda like Ayupan, but they're all made of rolled sugar. They're like fondant-dolls that you can eat. XDD

[AyuGAME]

woo...cool report..
i want to watch her once in my life...hopefully i can go to her asia tour this year
can you tell us more about mirrorcle world performance?

[yatsuda]

soysaucestar, thanks for the report! I'd been eagerly waiting to read it. She did pretty much the same thing as the 1st concert, except you got to hear LIFE and I didn't, LOL!! Plus singing Who... to her.. WOW!!! I wish I could've gone with you!

[taskinillusion]

Thank you so much for the wonderful report!!!