Tour of Secret, Saitama Arena 3/10, my account of the show

[yatsuda]

The kids are napping and I've actually come to write an account of yesterday's show. My memory doesn't always serve me right, so there might be recollection mistakes. I apologise in advance. So here it is... (very long, sorry)

***

I was so excited when I left my kids and my husband yesterday, to take trains from Kofu to Shinjuku to Akabane to Shintoshin (2 hour + trip). I arrived at Saitama Super Arena a little after 4pm. My friend and I had planned to buy some goods, meet with an AHS member (oro!!!) eat lightly, and get our seat. We were discouraged when we saw a HUGE line for the concert goods. No really, ridiculous. We had to wait 1 hour and 40 minutes to get to the vending point!!! I didn’t think we’d make it before the concert! And we didn't manage to meet with oro!!!

We went to our seats, Arena B3, seats 63-64. We were really close to the middle stage that’s set in the middle of the arena. And we had a excellent overall view of the whole set. This was going to be a great experience!! While we waited for Ayu to come on, I got a better look at her fanbase. It’s so diverse!! There were girls dressed JUST LIKE Ayu (fur, curled hair, nails done), there were “otaku” type boys, kids with their parents, people wearing hip hop style clothes, and lots of people who belonged to clubs (they all wore the same t-shirt they had designed themselves with an A-mark. I also overheard people saying "hey, I'm in the blabla hamasaki ayumi community. Ah me too!! Cool!). Lots of girls had an A-mark pendant that seemed to be made out of gold and diamonds (!!). Some wore cat ears, others had banners with messages written to Ayu, fan-made fans (with a glittery A-mark, feathers, you name it!!). There was also a man in his sixties sitting close-by. He was so cute!! He was waving his light stick, trying to jump, and calling Ayu’s name when she came close!!

We heard this buzzing sound (in fact, we heard it twice. Ayu failed to appear the 1st time because there was a technical glitch—we were told that at the final announcement, after the show) and the lights dimmed. We then heard LABYRINTH… and red curtains opened…

Ayu’s dancers were wearing elaborate costumes, complete with wigs (Marie-Antoinette style…?). Evolution, ballad-version, started with Ayu coming down from the ceiling. She wore a glittery corset-like costume with a short tutu like skirt in the back, and a cute small top hat, put on sideways. When she touched the floor, Evolution’s tempo picked up!!! The crowd was wild!!

She performed unite!, smiling, jumping, and disappeared. There was a short movie (taskinst)… Ayu and her female dancers were wearing black and white shiny leather-like sexy costumes. They were in the presence of male dancers (Ayu with Shuya’s head on her lap). The dancers, in pairs, seperate shots, were shown fighting. One female dancer hitting a male dancer, then crashing glass, 2 of them fighting on a metal veranda, hitting each other—the female dancer pushes the male dancer and he falls onto the road below—dead. Ayu’s with Shuya, there’s a gun, and someone pulls the trigger… (the rest is fuzzy, sorry). The movie ends.
Ayu and the female dancers were in cages, dancing(?) to 1LOVE. Big explosion (fire) and they’re free. Dance…

She went on with a very energetic performance of Until That Day. That’s my favourite song on Secret, so I was super hyper!! She came to dance in the middle of the arena, hence I saw her from really up close!! The dancers were AMAZING!!! Very talented!!
Ayu disappeared from the scene…(trap door)

Piano solo… the female dancers come out dressed as ballerinas, holding a u-shaped wreath of white flowers. Ayu comes on the stage dressed in a green short dress (sorry, it reminded me of peter pan!!! but very pretty dress. I had expected something super extravagant). She sang M in a very emotional way, surrounded by her dancers (I think?), who were wearing bullfighter costumes. They looked like they were doing a waltz, very nice.

When Ayu sang appears she was holding hands and dancing with Shuya (of course). Their eyes were locked the whole time.. how does she do it? Her adoring fans were waving and screaming her name the whole time!!!

There was a short movie which had scenes similar to the Part of Me PV. Then the dancers, who were dressed like the PV, came out of the curtains on both sides of the main stage. Ayu stood in the middle of the main stage, dressed in a very pink/red glittery kimono, complete with a traditional hairstyle wig. She went on with Secret (gave me goosebumps! She sang it so well!).

I can’t remember what was next… another piano solo or two female and two male dancers used hoops that hung from the ceiling. They were doing gymnastic-like poses to entertain us. We waited for Ayu to appear, which she did, at the end of the stage that’s set in the middle of the arena (so close to where I was sitting!!!). She was wearing a shiny silvery costume (reminded me of a Panasonic add that was released around the Free & Easy era). As she sang kiss o kill she was surrounded by her masked dancers, who wore a black cape. They dragged her to the main stage, carried her over their heads, and next thing you know, Ayu’s hanging from a HUGE silver cross.

Then comes another movie (not yet). Ayu’s headdress and makeup reminded me of India, but I’m not 100% sure. Anyway, in a kaleidoscope kind of way, her eye only, her face goes round and round (hard to explain, but I liked it).

She comes out wearing a white Rio carnival costume (glittery white, with feathers in the back). She sang SURREAL, Audience and Boys & Girls with her dancers also dressed in colourful carnival-like costumes. She introduced her band members and dancers… The stage was quite pretty, all lighted up. Then she waved us goodbye, after bowing to us, with her dancers.

The crowd repeated Ayu! Ayu!... the A-sign was on the screen but not moving. And of course, when it started to move the Ayu ready? song (that’s how I call it), anybody who was sitting stood up. First the A-mark clapped its hands, then it wrote “first day” (kanji) with a brush. It jumped roped with two small pink A-marks, it wrote “Saitama” in hiragana with a brush, it was surrounded by butterflies and groundhogs, it wore the DJ Ozma wig & sunglasses. I think I’ve forgotten a few more.

When the music stopped, the crowd roared!! Ayu sat on the stage, at the feet of the piano, and sang JEWEL. Very pretty, only towards the end her voice was strained. She told us that she’d sing a very nostalgic song, acoustic version, and asked us to sit and listen. She had a sip of water and sang SEASONS. Again, she had a bit of a hard time singing it, but it didn’t matter, the crowd was hypnotized, it seemed. WE were all singing along with her.

On to the MC part of the show. Ayu was wearing the white version of her tour T-shirt, complete with swarovski crystals of course, in the front and back. She had two long pigtails and bulgari (I think) hoops. Ayu said that she drove to Saitama by herself. The crowd was "eeeeeh?". She even has a gold driver's license (meaning she's a good driver. But that's because she doesn't drive often, she said.). When she got to the arena, she hit her car against the gates!!! She saw someone she knew, rolled down the window and next thing she knew, she'd hit her car!!! Yocchan also came by car, but with no mishaps. He said Ayu should’ve come with him. Next, Yocchan asked her how she felt on this first day of the concert. She answered that when she’s wearing her set in her ears, she can’t hear the crowd. Except on that day she could hear us!! She said we were the best crowd!! Yocchan asked her about her thoughts on going to Asia. Then he went on to say his thoughts because Ayu was taking too much time thinking. That was cute… when they got serious again, she said she was really looking forward to going to Asia, even if it meant a lot of work bringing the set and costumes. She believes that it’s the first time an artist will bring her set, costumes, etc.. to Asia. And she of course is looking forward to what she'll eat there.

Flower garden was fun to watch and fun to sing along. And she messed up a part of it, while waving to the crowd. Ayu was really cute!! She was jumping and skipping from the main stage to the one in the middle. Humming was awesome because she came in the middle again and gestured us to jump more. She was all smiles.

When Who… started, we thought that she’d just do her thank you’s, but when she actually looked like she was going to sing it, the crowd seemed surprised. As she sang, her eyes watered, some words didn’t come out, but she sang it until the end, with a sometimes very powerful voice. It was very emotional, and a lot of people surrounding me were wiping their eyes after she stopped singing to say thank you to her band, staff, dancers and us. She put her mic down and thanked us. And then she left the stage…

My impressions on the show… the set and the costumes were MUCH simpler than her previous tours. But that didn’t make the show any less entertaining. Ayu was full of energy, all smiles. She’s soooooooo beautiful, much more beautiful than on TV (she always looks tired!!!). I love her sweaty face, LOL (um yes, fangirl moment)!! The show was very entertaining. In fact, I felt it went by too fast, much faster than AT06. My friend, who’s not a hardcore fan, was really excited!!! She wants to go with me again next year, LOL! I wish I could go again, but it’s not easy with two young kids and a husband that’s almost always gone on business. Maybe Fukuoka (I’ll be there for a wedding)?

Ayu really goes all out for her fans and really succeeds, in my opinion. I guess that's why I'm such a crazy fan (almost 200 dollars in tour goods, arrgghh! And a pretty big collection of CDs, DVDs, goods). Anyway, I hope that others who will go to the concert will have as great of a time as I did. I can't wait to watch the DVD when it comes out, LOL!!! And I think it's awesome that she'll finally do some shows in Asia. Hopefully from now on she'll include dates in her tours!!

Okay, shut up, M-F.

Thank you for reading.