[News] ayumi hamasaki COUNTDOWN LIVE 2015-2016 A ~II thread~

[Pieces_of_SEVEN]

^That's how I feel also. I'm so happy that she did three different tours, two albums, the globe tribute, and now A7 with a PV.

I think just a few less tour dates would be fine. I don't want her to slow down when it comes to releasing music...lol but I do want her to take care of herself, of course. She knows what she can handle. She'll be fine.

[rainbow_smile]

It's not the best concert, but it's not the worst neither. I do agree that she sounds strained at times, but well that's understandable... And the vocals weren't that bad. I just hope she takes a short break, maybe a couple of months, to rest and take care of her voice before her next tour, because I really enjoyed CDM in terms of vocals and would love her to not just stop there and keep improving.

I'd actually love it if she kept the theme for AT2016, and explored it more. Like someone mentioned in another thread, it would be pretty good if she called it "Made in Japan". I'd be happy if she kept GREEN and Ivy, and made the rest of the concert Japan-inspired, too.

[Surreal17]

I've watched the concert until Song 4 U because I was in a hurry but I'll probably finish it tommorow.
01.GREEN - hands down, my favourite performance of the night and one of my favourites overall. My eyes were blessed by the multitude of things happening in the background while ayu was singing. Her vocals were really good too, which was a nice surprise. The new arrangement is beautiful!
02.WARNING - vocals were so-so (good in some parts, ok in others); I appreciate the touch of traditional sound, it takes the song to another level.
03.UNITE! - vocals are ok, but bad in some parts which was to be expected. I expected worse to be honest. Again, hints of traditional japanese, yay! It actually makes the song listenable.
04.STEP you - that break dance!! lol at that huge costume. Like some other member said, ayu definitely has humour.
05.Fly high - props to rock bridge!
06.Ladies Night - nothing unusual, ok overall
*Marionette ~Prelude~ - nice that she decided to use this interlude again. Works great with the humans like doll / air tricks story
07.Marionette - my second favourite performance of the night! Man, ayu really worked hard for this, and even her vocals are stable which was a bit of a shock for me since I don't recall a great past performance of this song. Great visuals once again!
*the Nuit interlude - Love how she uses so many elements into her concerts like : music, circus, theatre etc. The shadow dancing was memorable and enjoyable
08.appears ~ Missing ~ CAROLS ~ Dearest - Missing is a standout, and overall her vocals are clear. But I dislike the overreacting lol
09.Winter Diary - cool snowy effect. I don't know, but I didn't enjoyed this performance as much as I thought I would. Still, vocals were pretty good.
10.Summer Diary - simple performance, nothing memorable but ok
11.Ivy - She finally performed this!!! I'm glad that she used that beautiful kimono for this song too! But I'm also disappointed that the instrumental was identical to the CD track.
12.Born to Be - ok performance. 2016 though!!!!

Overall, I'm really satisfied with the main show. The encore is kinda plain, looking at the setlist.

[DevilsClap]

My favorite performances are GREEN and Ivy.

I think her vocals were the best on Winter and Summer Diary.
Dream On was good too.

[BlackSilence]

That marionette dress is awfully familiar. Did they modified the L's covers' one?

[//ABEST]

she should release summer single, autumn album and late PREMIUM SHOWCASE-like short tour and then CDL next year

i love how much she has done this year but i'm worried because of her voice and health i don't meam they are bad but they need rest as well

but she's a workaholic so what can we expect lol. she's gonna surprise us anyway so i'm fine with everything

[melissalove]

Watched Cdl last night and loved the theme, hated the new dancers and ayu's encore outfit. Vocals weren't good but then again she's done enough this year.

[oaristos]

I loved her outfit and hair in Many Classic Moments, but TK on stage playing the piano looked very awkward.

[Yoake]

Surely Ayu started the year 2016 voiceless. When you hear how her voice began hoarse even before the end of the main part, you realise that she wasn't in great shape. However the show stays remarkable. I like that one of the dancer wore a monkey outfit (wink to new year).

My favourite performance is Marionette because of the acrobatics but above all for Ayu's vocal. Even if it didn't sound perfect, it's the most emotional song of the concert to me. Since the first words, I was overwhelmed by the emotion as I had never been by this song in live.

I'm really glad to hear UNITE! once again.

I think that Many Classic Moments would have been better if TK had played an improvisition instead of the bridge that sounded more disjointed with the rest of the song than in the studio version.

Danse de la nuit is wonderful. That shadow play is great and funny.

I really like how Ayu used the folklore during this concert but also the modern aspects of her country.

[chocopockymaster]

TK was straight up AWFUL. It was just embarrassing all around.

[tsumekaze_]

Originally Posted by maxikot

Tsume is always so full of heart <3

Aw thank you! Your comment just made my day

About the CDL.
I absolutely LOVED everything. One of her best CDL imho. The outfits were stunning, the theme very well executed, she looked charismatic and lovely on stage and even though some elements were re-used from past performances she succeded in mixing them well and making them fit for the TOKYO theme.

I especially loved the opening with GREEN and warning, marionette (!!), the interlude with the shadow theatre, winter diary, the video she prepared with sorrows lyrics and melody in the background + Ivy which was absolutely... perfect.

I also liked the encore, maybe I'm the only one who did appreciate urata and TK's piano. I thought it was a very nice idea to incorporate the piano, and maybe it will sound better with better audio quality. Same goes for ayu's vocals, which were a bit strained because of her recent illness I think. But she still delivered, and put her all into the show, you can easily tell. She really gave her best this year touring and all, no wonder she might not be perfect vocally. I really really really loved her and the show, everything was AMAZING, I was speechless all the time! (because I had avoided any kind of spoilers visually).

I'm just a bit sad that she feels so guilty for taking time for herself in recent years, as if she's left her fans behind. You can really tell she does feel horrible for having done such a "selfish" thing as thinking about herself first once in a while. NHK Hall where she cries, sorrows, now this video with Ivy and song 4 u and many other means show it. She keeps on singing that she wants to be forgiven, but I don't think she's done anything which requires forgiveness. She's an amazing person, the way she feels towards her fans and the deep relationship she's built with us is something which is a plus, not a given. It's unique, and we're lucky to have it. I just wish she wouldn't be so hard on herself. Instead of her begging for forgiveness whenever she can't reach out to us, it should be us fans being grateful for all the times she does. I just love her so much, I want her to know that she's loved, and respected, and admired as a person and artist.

[RealLight]

GREEN: where's the "rock version" of it? Anyway, didn't like this new arrangement, the original is so much better. Loved her outfit tho.
WARNING: I liked it, but the ARENA TOUR perfomance was better.
UNITE!: apart from her voice, I really liked this.
STEP you: at first I hated that bunny outfit, but it took a few laughs from me, Ayu was hilarious. Fun perfomance, just like Fly high.
Ladies Night: that was ok, didn't like the cutesy vice tho.
Marionette: I really liked the prelude. About the main perfomance, thank god she didn't the high pitch voice she used in the first seconds. Beautiful perfomance, just didn't like the drama queen face near the end.
Ballads medley: gosh, I loved her dress and her hair. Also, a BIG WTF when appears ended all of sudden. Anyway, I really liked this part, her voice sounded good, but, as someone said before, the transition to CAROLS was very odd. I just wish she got rid of the dancers.
Winter diary: lovely.
Summer diary: skipped it.
Ivy: another beautiful perfomance, but again, I feel the dancers weren't needed here, Ayu by herself would of made it much better.
Born To Be...: it was ok, she could bring the original arrangement back.
Song 4 u: ok as well.
Love song: "shitakuuuuuuuu..." SLAY. Although that sounded nice, I'd prefer her to perfom it like the studio version, no acapella.
Dream ON: Ok again.
Many Classic Moments: Was TK really necessary there, he seemed so lost. Awkwaaard. And NO at him playing the piano. Also, her voice started to get really raspy, like she had a cold or something (CDL02-03 teas).
B&G/TSMGO/MY ALL: Same old stuff.

Well, not her worst concert, but not the best either. Her voice didn't soud bad at all and I enjoyed it better than the last CDL. Also, her new dance Ko-Ya is HAWT and what in the world was Timmy wearing? Never noticed he had such a nice body.

[ExodusUK]

LOL TK is always so awkward and emotionless...I believe he doesn't actually have a personality.

[Pieces_of_SEVEN]

Couldn't agree more about TK...I was like, what? Why are you there? And why the hell is Dream on being performed? LOL

[j0tas]

Ok, this woman can't be a human. I mean, all year touring and working so hard and she is still capable of doing a 2h30min show like this. I really look up to her.

Although she looked tired and with hoarse voice in the high notes of some songs (UNITE!, Fly high, Song 4 u, Love Song... are very difficult songs!) she has made another great CDL.

The highlights for me are GREEN, Marionette, Winter diary, Ivy (finallyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!) and Danse de la nuit noire with the lights and shadows trick. I also enjoyed WARNING but I prefer CDM one, appears and Missing were well but suddenly CAROLS and Dearest? It didn't fit too well to me.

The outfits were amazing, she looked flawless with every costume but especially I couldn't take me eyes off her during the medley and Winter diary

Now I hope she takes care of her voice and herself because she really deserves a rest after all the hard work she has done during 2015.

[Chris85]

C'mon, Dream on was amazing live!! I was so excited that I was dancing and almost jumping, such a powerful upbeat song.
I think her hoarse voice has nothing to do with illness, she just had been screaming for 3 days, often shouting instead of proper singing, so it was to be expected.

[tokyoxjapanxfan]

I had a great seat right in front of the center walkway.

I generally enjoyed the setlist but still don't like Warning and Marionette lol.
Also I laughed when she made a mistake singing appears-- "kao wo tsunaide" literally means like joining faces together xD

I do wish the Japanese theme was stronger. It was really only like what...3 performances? So this is one of those concerts with a very loose thread of continuity haha.

But hey, it's a CDL.

I'm assuming that if she uses this theme for the tour, the entire winter ballad section will be replaced.

[freedreamer]

Originally Posted by tokyoxjapanxfan

I had a great seat right in front of the center walkway.

I generally enjoyed the setlist but still don't like Warning and Marionette lol.
Also I laughed when she made a mistake singing appears-- "kao wo tsunaide" literally means like joining faces together xD

I do wish the Japanese theme was stronger. It was really only like what...3 performances? So this is one of those concerts with a very loose thread of continuity haha.

But hey, it's a CDL.

I'm assuming that if she uses this theme for the tour, the entire winter ballad section will be replaced.

Bring back Moments, part of Me, I am..., Will (i almost did a will.i.am here), Pray, Dolls, Story

[SayukiChoco]

Originally Posted by freedreamer

Bring back Moments, part of Me, I am..., Will (i almost did a will.i.am here), Pray, Dolls, Story

Yes! : I especially want Moments, part of Me, I am... and Will. Hopefully she puts them in for the Arena Tour.

[Chris85]

Originally Posted by tokyoxjapanxfan

I do wish the Japanese theme was stronger. It was really only like what...3 performances? So this is one of those concerts with a very loose thread of continuity haha.

That's how I felt, the theme is barely used.