ARENA TOUR 2012 A ~HOTEL Love songs~ information thread [II]

[~angel*ayumi~]

HANABI *_*

[freedreamer]

omgosh HANABI!!!! its so amazing that...you go for ur first ayu concert and she sings one of the most classic songs in J-POP SUMMER HISTORY *.*

[TeamAyu2004]

HANABI!
AWESOME!

[inspire_rmx]

OMG!!! HANABI n Greatful Days.. pure loves!! u r soo lucky! guess she's starting to promote A SUMMER BEST

[Onton]

Awesome So lucky you are

btw. Wanna know did anything sold out today?

[ayumisrael]

Wow!! July 1st, HANABI and BLUE BIRD! I really hope we get all these performances on the blu-ray XD

[ExodusUK]

HANABI

[mizuki-7]

wow Hanabi when was the last time she perform this song ? 2008

(I'm still waiting for Hanabi II ep...)

[love in music]

omg HANABI :O I hope she did a better job than she did with it on the AT08 DVD. It was kinda bleh there.

[ayumisrael]

Well End roll was better than HANABI but it wasn't that bad... It just sounded a bit weepy.

[Tony G]

Back from a day hunting down tickets to her second concert in Osaka. Not fun. All we managed to find was overpriced seat tickets 20 minutes before the concert was to start. Doesn't matter, had that one experience and it was amazing enough. So I'm not sure if she changed the encore today.

My first impressions of the show when it started... it was so big. Huge. I was scared I was not going to like it because of this. It didnt feel personal at the start in the slightest. The opening song "Happening Here" was so grand, so many things going on stage that it didn't feel like it mattered who was watching it. After being a fan for 8 or so years, my expectations were sky high. But a few songs in, that all changed. Ayu's level of crowd interaction with a huge arena is nothing short of outstanding. I think everyone there felt like they were part of the show and not just another number or tour stop by the end.

My favourite performances were Return Road and of course HANABI. When she announced she was performing that song the crowd collectively gasped, lol. It was just her on stage, and Yo-chan came up for a portion of it to perform a guitar solo. They changed the arrangement a little bit.

Party Queen was another highlight, loved the "I am a lonely queen" section.

There was only one lowlight for me... Ladies Night. She sang with the awful cutesy voice. Otherwise her vocals were really good, there a few "wow" moments when I realised just how powerful her vocals can be that can only come across when seeing her live in the flesh.

The theme for the show was so well executed.

Had amazing seats in the 8th row on the floor towards the far right side of the stage. Ayu got within 20 or so metres on a few occasions. She was never far away, had a great view of the catwalk and all. Unfortunently I was on the side where Timmy was stationed. An annoying distraction to th overall show and TERRIBLE live vocals. Didnt think it was possible to hate him any more but here we are. The crowd never once cheered for him loudly when he came forward to sing or when Ayu announced him as part of the band. Pretty telling of her Japanese fans attitude towards him.

Not sure what else to say that hasn't already been mentioned. Other than the initial scare at the start, the show met all of my expectations and exceeded them. Even if I never get to see Ayu live again, I'm glad I'll have this one live experience to always look back on. Awesome to sum it up in one word.

[njanjayrp]

Originally Posted by Tony G

Back from a day hunting down tickets to her second concert in Osaka. Not fun. All we managed to find was overpriced seat tickets 20 minutes before the concert was to start. Doesn't matter, had that one experience and it was amazing enough. So I'm not sure if she changed the encore today.

My first impressions of the show when it started... it was so big. Huge. I was scared I was not going to like it because of this. It didnt feel personal at the start in the slightest. The opening song "Happening Here" was so grand, so many things going on stage that it didn't feel like it mattered who was watching it. After being a fan for 8 or so years, my expectations were sky high. But a few songs in, that all changed. Ayu's level of crowd interaction with a huge arena is nothing short of outstanding. I think everyone there felt like they were part of the show and not just another number or tour stop by the end.

My favourite performances were Return Road and of course HANABI. When she announced she was performing that song the crowd collectively gasped, lol. It was just her on stage, and Yo-chan came up for a portion of it to perform a guitar solo. They changed the arrangement a little bit.

Party Queen was another highlight, loved the "I am a lonely queen" section.

There was only one lowlight for me... Ladies Night. She sang with the awful cutesy voice. Otherwise her vocals were really good, there a few "wow" moments when I realised just how powerful her vocals can be that can only come across when seeing her live in the flesh.

The theme for the show was so well executed.

Had amazing seats in the 8th row on the floor towards the far right side of the stage. Ayu got within 20 or so metres on a few occasions. She was never far away, had a great view of the catwalk and all. Unfortunently I was on the side where Timmy was stationed. An annoying distraction to th overall show and TERRIBLE live vocals. Didnt think it was possible to hate him any more but here we are. The crowd never once cheered for him loudly when he came forward to sing or when Ayu announced him as part of the band. Pretty telling of her Japanese fans attitude towards him.

Not sure what else to say that hasn't already been mentioned. Other than the initial scare at the start, the show met all of my expectations and exceeded them. Even if I never get to see Ayu live again, I'm glad I'll have this one live experience to always look back on. Awesome to sum it up in one word.

I felt the same way. Ladies night was the only performance that simply felt boring compared to everything else and the song just isn't that much fun live for some reason. Or at least it wasn't fun compared to Shake It!, STEP you, Sparke or SURREAL for instance.

I was also surprised how powerful can Ayu actually sound. Sometimes the DVDs just don't do her justice.

[Evolution7/4]

Originally Posted by Tony G

Unfortunently I was on the side where Timmy was stationed. An annoying distraction to th overall show and TERRIBLE live vocals. Didnt think it was possible to hate him any more but here we are. The crowd never once cheered for him loudly when he came forward to sing or when Ayu announced him as part of the band. Pretty telling of her Japanese fans attitude towards him.

Not really because that was not the case at all the shows I was at. Also, you cannot really judge his vocals with what he sings at Ayus lives. hes doing backup not his full voiced vocals.

[Tony G]

Back in Australia *post travel depression * Kind of gutted I didn't get those 2nd show rip-off tickets as she performed You & Me! Out of the two, so much happier to have witnessed HANABI live.

Originally Posted by Evolution7/4

Not really because that was not the case at all the shows I was at. Also, you cannot really judge his vocals with what he sings at Ayus lives. hes doing backup not his full voiced vocals.

You can when Japanese fans are screaming like maniacs to their favourite dancers and band members, and comparing that with the minimal to no cheering Timmy got when he was in the spotlight or announced. My very reasonable conclusion - they do not like him. He tried so hard to engage with the audience and win people over but it was epic fail each and every time. The sooner he is gone from Ayu's concerts, the better.

And yes, his vocals did suck. Have you listened to NaNaNa or Happening Here? He has solo vocal sections in both songs. Those instances are perfect scenarios where his REAL vocals can be judged. And both times, he sounded terrible. Plus his vocals are very distinct in Shake It (terrible live) and how beautiful you are (also terrible live) The man cannot rap *shudder* or sing. Please stop trying. It was embarrasing to watch.

[freedreamer]

Great review!! So glad so enjoyed the show and have such high praise for it
I would really LOVE to catch this on Blu-ray already hahah!

[truehappiness]

I think it's just got more of an attitude in the studio version that eventually became "cutesy" as she performed it more as opposed to sexy or cool.

[njanjayrp]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

I think it's just got more of an attitude in the studio version that eventually became "cutesy" as she performed it more as opposed to sexy or cool.

Exactly. The way she sings it ruins the song for me and the arrangement was somewhat weaker as well + the performance didn't really fit the song that well either as opposed to the (miss)understood AT one. Imo Ladies night was always somewhat dark and mysterious and she kind of killed that image XD

I am hoping her vocals during HANABI were as good as they were throughout the rest of the show and that it sounds nothing like it did in 2008.

[Delicious n Bold]

That encore list is HOT!

[SunshineSlayer]

It sounds like she is maybe preparing for A Summer Best TV lives with adding these summer songs to the setlist.

[mizuki-7]

It seem she has sung You & Me in the last show ^^

1.Happening Here
2.feedback
3.reminds me
4.Tell me why
5.appears
6.a cup of tea
7.Shake It
8.STEP you
9.NaNaNa
10.Sparkle
11.the next LOVE
12.Eyes,Smoke,Magic
13.Return Road
14.Serenade in A minor～Ladies Night
15.Ladies Night
16.Party queen
17.SURREAL～evolution～SURREAL
18.Love song
ーーーー
19.You & Me
20.Greatful days
21.Boys & Girls
22.how beautiful you are

http://setlist-live.com/hamasaki-ayumi/1249.html