Official thread of your thoughts on (ARENA TOUR 2009) #1

[Heavenly]

i was really amazed when i saw the concert yesterday *0*
there was only one song that i skipped (SIGNAL, coz i don't like it ...)
I LOOOOOOOVE the video and the long version of Load of the SHUGYO ! <3<3<3<3<3
NEXT LEVEL is also moving i find...
But the only black point i see, it's the performance of rollin': i LOVE this song, but here Ayu turned this song into a kawaii-style song (even worst than ANGEL'S SONG or so on...); i guess that such a song don't deserve it maybe i'm too flat, but i'm simply disappointed...
and the NO NO NO of Sparkle ran through my head all night and day long !.. x___X

Well, i'm looking forward for the DVD, i think i'll buy it. Probably one of her most well-made concert, but not even better than AT08 XP

[relmy]

I was really impressed! I expected this to be really bad, but I actually really enjoyed it.

I loved the stairs on the stage, I loved the WHOLE stage it was so colourful and amazing. I didn't like the performance much, but the rainbow stairs in EnergizE were spectacular, I loved it. The costume here was hideous though, it was just not good at all.

My favourite performance was identity, which surprised me because I don't like the song or her sexy performances much - but the stage was amazing here! I also really disliked the bottom half for the LnH/identity costume too - that skirt was terrible. On the plus side, I love the top half!

[JackieRos]

ill edit this post once i finish watching everything

Energize: was good but i would have wished that ayu would appear in the big screen
Rule: all i can say is yummy boobs i dont like it when they did her voice robotic i could barely hear what she said

[Emperatriz Ayumi]

I think this is her weakest tour so far...

Although this concert is TV-Version, we know that the final one will be outstanding because of all arrangements their staff make. Eg: camera angles, audience sounds and Ayu´s voice.

One thing that I´m very dissapointed with is the fact that the stage and the effects are not the "wonderful" ones Ayu used to have... Not to mention the screen when she is performing... They are not the best...

I remember in AT 2005 the final part of the main show, Ayu had the water and the lights and bla bla bla..., in AT 2006 the stage in which Ayu performed Bold and Delicious... That was AMAZING!!!... In At 2007 the ENORMOUS hearts full of lights in the middle of the stage... I just LOVE IT and in AT 2008 the HUGE AND FABULOUS BOAT WHERE SHE SANG MIRRORCLE WORLD!!!... I died when I watched it for the first time... And I´m still doing it!!....

... And now she only has... A CHAIR????!!!!... WTF!!!! What happened??!!... C´mon Ayu!! Your staff can do better than that....

Just that... I hope than the next tour will be better than this...

[majrakun]

I thought the chair was rather symbolic. In Bridge to the Sky, the photo album that had all her photos since she was a baby until now rests on that chair. It's where she reminiscs about her past and sees how far she has gone. And like Deli said, she's found a place where she belongs.

[tetsuo69]

I just finish seeing the whole concert and i just have to say, its what i expect from her now on days, the same themes over and over every single year. getting tired of that and "days" one of my fav songs by ayu was turn into another shuya ballad..... it really pissed me off.

i rate the concert a 5.5/10

[Andrenekoi]

I`m sorry, but the themes weren`t the same of the latest years... the bdsm ninjas weren`t used before... neither was the video game chearleader... Ayu and Shuiya were on a couple argument on identity, what isn`t somehting she touched before... and so on....

[SunshineSlayer]

^ Well, I think you could say that at the very least they are all extremely similar to things she has done before. It's more like she keeps using the exact same format and then just slightly changes some of the themes. I'm not offering any suggestions right now for how she could do it better, I just know that after so many years of this, it does start to get tiring.

[PoetGirl]

finished watching and ... sad to say but I couldnt watch how she's struggling while singing.
In days and green it seemed like she cant breathe nor talk. :/ Im worried.
Ive seen somebody here said her vocals are geting worse every year and I have to agree with that. Thats too bad.

I liked costumes, it didnt look as bad as in the pictures, I liked NEXT LEVEL performance, that was touching and sweet. And I like how she seemed to have a lot of fun.

But I cant get away of the feeling that it could've been better and how her voice is weak.

[zoomzoom]

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

Oh and one more thing: Her boobs! lol. All throughout Rule and Unite I kept thinking "boobs Hamasaki" haha. I paid more attention to her boobs than the stage, the song, the singing, the dancing, anything - haha. And really, shouldn't you want your audience to focus on those kinds of things instead?

I think that's more of a problem with the viewer than ayu herself if that's the case, especially considering the technological upgrade they got for this tour compared to her past ones.

[nanakopy87]

which HOPE or PAIN performance you guys prefer?
PCDL or AT09?
i personally prefer PCDL

[Emperatriz Ayumi]

Originally Posted by PoetGirl

In days and green it seemed like she cant breathe nor talk. :/ Im worried.
Ive seen somebody here said her vocals are geting worse every year and I have to agree with that. Thats too bad.

She was crying when she sang Days that´s why she sounds weird... I really love this performance!

[Suteisi]

^ and it wasn't fake crying. She really got emotional and it made me cry too while I was there... I thought it was very beautiful.

[love in music]

Originally Posted by Emperatriz Ayumi

I remember in AT 2005 the final part of the main show, Ayu had the water and the lights and bla bla bla..., in AT 2006 the stage in which Ayu performed Bold and Delicious... That was AMAZING!!!... In At 2007 the ENORMOUS hearts full of lights in the middle of the stage... I just LOVE IT and in AT 2008 the HUGE AND FABULOUS BOAT WHERE SHE SANG MIRRORCLE WORLD!!!... I died when I watched it for the first time... And I´m still doing it!!....

... And now she only has... A CHAIR????!!!!... WTF!!!! What happened??!!... C´mon Ayu!! Your staff can do better than that....

Just that... I hope than the next tour will be better than this...

it's because that was her idea for this tour, to not have all those props and stuff. i'm pretty sure her next tour will be back to all of that, but in this interview she explains about it.

i don't really get the people complaining so much about her voice, did you not hear AT08? that was probably vocally her worst tour ever, her voice was so much better than that in this tour, imo. although it is still weak, it's not as offensive as it was in AT08, and there was no "Dearest" moment. so i consider it an upgrade.

Originally Posted by nanakopy87

which HOPE or PAIN performance you guys prefer?
PCDL or AT09?
i personally prefer PCDL

i prefer the one in this tour, because there were parts where it sounded like she was going to cry and it was more emotional than at PCDL. it actually made me like the song a bit

[noidea]

^ the only performances I consider to be worse in terms of vocals from AT08 are SURREAL~evolution~SURREAL, Dearest and Voyage. However in this tour, theres not a single song that's NOT bad.

[love in music]

Originally Posted by noidea

^ the only performances I consider to be worse in terms of vocals from AT08 are SURREAL~evolution~SURREAL, Dearest and Voyage. However in this tour, theres not a single song that's NOT bad.

srsly? well i disagree. i only consider a few performances in this tour to be hard on the ears, but the whole AT08 was extremely bad to me in terms of vocals. i guess i just prefer a little screaming to a mind-shattering vibrato

[waterballoon]

Okay I shall give my thoughts based on what I've seen so far...

Let me start off by commending Ayu on the screens. They're really beautiful and well executed throughout the concert.

Pieces of SEVEN: Well, cool intro, nice screens... and that's all I guess.

Rule: I kinda expected too much from this I guess. It wasn't as epic as I thought it would be... the a pacella felt kinda forced, or done just for the sake of it, unlike t2m last year, or ASFxx in A Museum if you get what I mean... I can't get over how she sang the song either. I mean I never liked how she did Rule live but that's just me I guess~ Overall her boobs were way too squeezed and the newer hair is SO COOL and thank God the outfit wasn't as hideous as in the photos.

UNITE!: Ha, the verses sounded slurry and lazy, like she had a flu then suddenly the chorus sounded okay. Hmm... I missed doing the hand movements anyway, so it was a good thing to find myself doing it again lol.

Disco-munication: oh my God. this video is so awesome! It's overloading with cuteness... and I love the whole GameBoy set up... it's just so cute!

EnergizE: well I shan't say much about playback/lipsync just that it was pretty obvious~ Ayu looks really sexy and it was a cute performance.

Sunrise: I actually preferred this to be an encore song, but it was okay for me.

Load of the SHUGYO: HOT video. like really hot. Ayu looked hot as well, and I liked it a lot.

LOVE 'n' HATE: Bleh. Boring. Disappointment. It felt like... they wanted to dance but didn't really dance. What's the point of having dancers when they're just prance around the stage and put their hands all over Ayu? But her counting was whoa hot.

identity: I always liked this song; felt it was cool and all. BUT THIS PERFORMANCE, EEW! How on earth did a rock song about yourself turn into some... couple love game??? I like Shu-ya a lot thank you very much, but I felt his presence in the stage was so redundant, it kinda ruined everything...

In The Corner: Finally, something cool. The lights were fantastic, and I loved the glow sticks and all their formation. <3

GREEN: ... some parts were really good, like when she punched the air/ground in the second chorus, it felt really good, and her vocals were great here as well. But ugh too much fake crying and some of her movements were just awkward and stupid...

Days: best performance from the concert thus far. Real emotions, good vocals, perfect everything. My whole body was shivering throughout cos she really touched me... I love this song, and I love this performance. I still remember how she sang this in PCDL... this time it was so much better.

I don't want to sound rude or whatever but yeah... so far the only performances I liked were EnergizE, In The Corner and Days. The rest were kinda meh, especially the "rock" section, which was a major disappointment...

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

^ Well, I think you could say that at the very least they are all extremely similar to things she has done before. It's more like she keeps using the exact same format and then just slightly changes some of the themes. I'm not offering any suggestions right now for how she could do it better, I just know that after so many years of this, it does start to get tiring.

Well, and what else can she do? Having lions and gorillas on the stage while she sings? She could make the segments longer, but people would complain that she didn't have enough outfits (just like this tour, people are complaining that she didn't had props, as the props should be the focus of the performances)

I hope it doesn't sound like "omg, everyone keep complaining everytime, why don't u do something better?!" or any bs like that, but there is nothing she can do that will have no complains at all... If she does something new, people will complain that she changed and it's not as good as she was... if she does what people liked before, the complains will be about how much she repeats herself... I can see some people around here stoping being fans of her in some time, cuz they want something she can't deliver... It doesn't matter what she do, she will never be as fresh and new as she was when she was... well... fresh and new. Her career is more than 10 years old, even if she releases something totally different from whatever she done before, it will not be totally fresh cuz she is an old artist, and a huge amount of her fans will complain. But in the end, it's not her fault (and not her fans fault cuz it's not like they must like everything she does)

[emi♡]

I think having the props would have been much better, since it would have forced her to make the tour a little more theatrical.

Which...is good...because she probably would have had a very nice balance between the theatrical side, and the "live"/effects side...if that makes sense.


And honestly...I don't really care how "fresh and new" she is. She's Ayumi Hamasaki. And her dedication alone, that she herself, chooses to portray, should be enough for us to expect a lot of her.

I know it's annoying when some people always say this or that...but the truth is, you can't keep repeating yourself even if it was great and people liked it...nor can you do new stuff that's crappy.

And that's one of the challenges every artist (painters, drafters, musicians, etc) faces.

[Not~Yet]

I really loved this. For me, it was visually pretty freaking great so I really don't get where you complainers are coming from Okay. She didn't have a huge ship or something on the stage. So?

I think the screens, outfits, lasers, lights, stage, little props and everything were just amazing and maybe even better than ever imo! I also felt that her connection with the audience was really strong. I loved the Rule bg screens! The identity and LOVE 'n' HATE performances were surprisingly intense, which was great. The ballad section was very simple but pretty. The rollin' & Sparkle performances were so funny and full of energy! The NEXT LEVEL one must be one of the prettiest performances ever.. I agree with what DeliriumZero said.

I know you all have heard that sometimes less is just so much more. I love pretty much every tour and concert of hers, AT2008 was amazing and AT2009 was amazing - both in their own ways. Can't help it though if you don't like this/them, that's just your loss and of course Ayu cannot please everybody.