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

[Aisha_Angel]

I knew from the moment the costume pics leaked that I wasn't going to like this tour, but I gave it a chance since I actually liked 95% of setlist. I watched that tv performances of "Rule" "identity" & "love & hate" and I have to say that whoever choreographed this tour needs to have their dancing shoes burned or something.

From what I saw, there was '"****ty Ayu" and "ShuyaAyu" all over the place. I guess it's all good for those who like to see Ayu like that, but it wasn't for me. I like it when Ayu is "confident" and I like it when she's "sexy" but I don't like it when she's grindin on Shuya like some cheap video *****. She's better than that, or at least I thought so.

There was never a climatic moment during those three songs, there was no WOW-factor like in Arena Tours that preceded this one. The three clips I watched were definitely songs that had the potential to make me go (O_O!!!), but it just didn't happen. Ayu looked very tired, and during "identity" her lips weren't in sync with the backtrack at ANY time---I have NEVER seen her lip sync that bad before.

And the background dancers...*sigh* They were all over the place as they have been since 2008.

The bottom line is that Ayumi needs A REAL CHOREOGRAPHER TO MAKE REAL CHOREOGRAPHY. Not arm flailing and jumping and grinding, but REAL CHOREOGRAPHY that actually REINFORCES THE WORDS OF THE SONG. OMG, I want to rant so bad right now it isn't even funny...but I'm going to stop and simply say that 2009 has been the WORST AYU-YEAR EVER! (T_T)

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by Aisha_Angel

I knew from the moment the costume pics leaked that I wasn't going to like this tour, but I gave it a chance since I actually liked 95% of setlist. I watched that tv performances of "Rule" "identity" & "love & hate" and I have to say that whoever choreographed this tour needs to have their dancing shoes burned or something.

From what I saw, there was '"****ty Ayu" and "ShuyaAyu" all over the place. I guess it's all good for those who like to see Ayu like that, but it wasn't for me. I like it when Ayu is "confident" and I like it when she's "sexy" but I don't like it when she's grindin on Shuya like some cheap video *****. She's better than that, or at least I thought so.

There was never a climatic moment during those three songs, there was no WOW-factor like in Arena Tours that preceded this one. The three clips I watched were definitely songs that had the potential to make me go (O_O!!!), but it just didn't happen. Ayu looked very tired, and during "identity" her lips weren't in sync with the backtrack at ANY time---I have NEVER seen her lip sync that bad before.

And the background dancers...*sigh* They were all over the place as they have been since 2008.

The bottom line is that Ayumi needs A REAL CHOREOGRAPHER TO MAKE REAL CHOREOGRAPHY. Not arm flailing and jumping and grinding, but REAL CHOREOGRAPHY that actually REINFORCES THE WORDS OF THE SONG. OMG, I want to rant so bad right now it isn't even funny...but I'm going to stop and simply say that 2009 has been the WORST AYU-YEAR EVER! (T_T)

Didn't u just watch a youtube video out of synch? Or payed attention to the screen on the concert (that has a delay compared to the actual stage performance)? Cuz I downloaded the tv leak, and there was nothing out of synch...

[Zeke.]

I downloaded the 5GB .iso version from JPOPSUKI and watched a few performances. If anything was lipsynced it was EnergizE. She was moving sooooooo fast and the words were coming out too effortlessly. Her mouth also looked "stale" as she mouthed the words. Like she wasn't actually singing them. But I'll wait for the DVD to watch the whole thing and make my review.

[terra]

I already watched it like twice. Overall this is an OK tour for me, it didn't give me a wow feeling though but it's good. Although she sounded not as sharp as last year's (ever since I saw a-nation 09), she's still giving powerful performances. I didn't mind if she lipsynched at all, though she shouldn't did like PCDL's ANGEL'S SONG (If she did lipsynched this year).

I like about 95% of the songs she chose to perform. And I wanna see the screens in HQ. I love HOPE or PAIN screens the most, I've had imagined a PV for It was perfectly like that screen, and it was Maro! Load of the SHUGYO screens is simply epic.

I love when she did mistake on rollin' and act dork I love her hand gesture, I even followed it at home XD she had so much fun.

What I don't really like from the beginning was her outifts for this year. The way she recycled such a close performance (PCDL-AT09) shocked me. I guess she doesn't really had the time to work a completely new outfits so she used some of PCDL's spare outifts.

The setlist arrangement was good until ballad session. GREEN feels out of place, she should do a separate session instead. HOPE or PAIN-GREEN-Days is messed imo. evolution-SIGNAL and rollin'-Sparkle placement is good but not as great imo, because I like when she close with one whole performance.

I expect more hawt dancing this year, since identity and Sparkle is an energetic songs. I was hoping for a mixed performance of 1 LOVE (Poles and Chairs), my name's WOMEN (Whips and Chairs) and until that Day... (Walking catwalk with boys) on identity, instead she only did small dance with Shuya only. Glad the explosion is there as I expected. Sparkle too I was hoping for a sexy dance again, oh well.

I'm quite agree with Aisha-Angel about she should get a real choreographer because she usually dance good on previous performances. It's not that Zin, Maro, Subaru couldn't make a great choreogprahy but I guess Ayu needs a help from a pro too.

Maybe if I were there to see the concert, I would've been in 'heaven'.
Hope she goes well for CDL 09-10 soon

[noidea]

^ I agree with that, though I do think that identity was most likely playback, there was nothing noticably out of synch

[Suteisi]

Originally Posted by noidea

^ I agree with that, though I do think that identity was most likely playback, there was nothing noticably out of synch

When I was there, in person, it didn't sound like lypsynch. I don't even have a doubt, even after watching the videos, it sounded live to me

[SunshineSlayer]

Originally Posted by Neffiline

When I was there, in person, it didn't sound like lypsynch. I don't even have a doubt, even after watching the videos, it sounded live to me

Well, personally after watching that I think it probably was. While I don't doubt that you think it was live, there were also other reports from Japan that listed it as lip synched. Just goes to show how people really can see and hear things differently. Still a fun performance though.

[_CryingLikeAChild_]

I watched it with my friend shane at his house (He is amorphose on this site :] ) and we watched it with another friend.
It made me giggle when she forgot the words in rollin and OH MY her dancing in sparkle! Hahahaha. Me and my friends were rewinding that like a thousand times!!!!
Hope or Pain was awesome!!! I loved the dress ofcourse! ( She has amazing taste in close!)
We got to see some maro which made me majorly happy :]
Identity was shocking with her dancing !!!
We rewinded that a bunch of times too XD
Overalll I thought it was amazing!!!

[mosaicbuster]

I personally found AT09 to be somewhat lacking, the earlier video we got of rule recorded by a fan looked so much more promising! The highlights for me were actually HOPE or PAIN and rollin' LOL. I enjoyed Bridge to the sky/NEXT LEVEL although I found the objects attached to the chair to be a little random. I can see how it may have looked a little plain without them but frankly it could've been a piece of cheese hanging below and ayu would still have pulled it off I think AT08 will be getting a few more plays from me, but still a good effort from Ayu-sama.

[SunshineSlayer]

^ Actually what bothered me about that chair was that it looked unstable and it had these black bars hanging out to the side which just kind ruined the mood and made it look cheap. They could have at least painted those parts white.

[nanakopy87]

i believe they use black is to not to let the audiences who attend the concert to see that black bar so obvious.it will be very obvious if you use white,IMO.
Maybe they should use the idea how they hang the stuff when she sang free & easy during arena tour 2002

[noidea]

^ that won't work with that kind of chair

[nanakopy87]

i see..is it the chair+ayu is overweight or that wire is not suitable for that kind of chair?

[noidea]

Ayu would fall down the front or have wires at at least two points in front of her, which would look stupid

[nanakopy87]

i see..ahahahaha..silly me...

[Chibi_Venus]

Overall... I am fairly impressed with this concert. Everything feels like it was taken to the next level (no pun intended). It felt futuristic and yet had an old touch to it that gladly reminded me of her older concerts.

Break it down by tour details:

Spoiler:

Costumes: Excellent! It was a fresh look for everybody!

Emotion and energy: Fantastic! I sensed a strong connection between Ayu and her audience (whether physically at the arena or not). I'm really impressed!

Lighting/sound effects: Awesome! Another thing that felt like it was taken to the next level, but it still had that touch of Ayu in it.

Videos: Amazing! Beautiful and heartfelt; I enjoyed watching every second!

Vocals: Not the best I've heard, but not the worst either. It felt like she was yelling at the higher notes and nothing felt musical. Some parts even sounded unhealthy... HOWEVER! She sounds better than MANY artists normally do live! Don't get me wrong, I love her. I just wasn't as impressed as usual.

A lot of it reminded me of her older (and amazing) tours, like 2005 and 2006. I feel like the old Ayu is coming back with bigger, better, and real Ayu-like qualities!

Break it down by songs:

Spoiler:

Pieces of SEVEN
Great opener. I love the futuristic theme it's setting up.

Rule
The vocals were a lot better at a-nation, in my opinion... But everything else about this performance made it soooo much better than a-nation! How can I describe it? Hmm... Because it was on Ayu's stage and not a stage shared by dozens of other artists, it felt more open for bigger and better things: the dance, sound and lighting effects, etc. One thing I really loved were the videos behind her throughout the entire song. It helped match the mood of the song perfectly! (And goodness, Ayu! Where did THOSE come from! ;D LOL)

UNITE!
Not much I can really say here. Although I like seeing UNITE! still being performed. =3 It brings back good memories. ^.^ The atmosphere was a lot of fun, and I really liked that. Also, her vocals were more that satisfactory for me at some points. Weird, but whatever.

Disco-munication
That video was soooo cute! And personally I liked seeing the dancers with their names under them. Now I can finally depict who is who!

EnergizE
Lip-synching or not, I LOVED this performance! Normally I'm not crazy about her "cute" performances like this (i.e. a dancer trips or something and everyone reacts with an over-exaggerated gasp xD), but this one was cute with ENERGY! And I loved the sporty theme with the cheerleaders and such. The choreography was great, and this has shown Ayu's improvement in dancing! ;P

Sunrise ~LOVE is ALL~
To be honest, I've never really been a fan of this song. I don't know, it just never appealed to me... But despite that, the performance was a lot of fun and I just loved the energy emitting from everybody in that arena. (And just a personal note, Go-Mi = lol)

Load of the SHUGYO
So intense and dark... So unlike Ayu... So AMAZING!! (Oh, and I gotta say I'm totally digging the curls. )

LOVE 'n' HATE
Omg, that woman is so (censored adjective!) sexy! Like, WOW! She even took her sexyness to a whole 'nother level! I am so impressed!! Oh, what, I'm supposed to talk about the possible lip-synching? Forget that! Haha the performance was totally worth it!

identity
O_O Just when I thought she couldn't get any sexier! 5 star performance here! Although, why does this one have the lip-synching speculation floating around, too...?

In The Corner
I really like the masks and the light stuff... Creative! I could care less about the recycled choreography, costumes, and setting. I love that she's still performing this, and that it wasn't some one-hit wonder!

I'll fill out the rest later. =D

[Taru86]

I am really a fan of this tour! I think all of the songs were performend really well, and I like her vocals as well. The stage is absolutely amazing with the stairs and all the colors. I like every section of the concert, and the ballads were soo good! I think this might be the first tour where I actually like all of the special screens, and I absolutely love Ayu's outfit during evolution and SIGNAL!

[Raleigh]

I finally got down to watch the tour. It's a bit different from her past tours... The costumes are a bit tacky/over the top. But I was aware of that when I saw the photos. I'm guessing Ayu was put on a tight budget and they recycled a lot of her stuff.

Also is it just me, but they tried to fill in with dancers and it didn't exactly make sense. At least for once her band was acting like actually her band and being in the background. Like in Hope or Pain... and Days the whole overacting thing. And Ayu pretending to cry in all her ballads were like watching an episode of the Bold and the Beautiful. Seemed way over the top. I think it would've been just fine with her simply performing. Also the Shuya/Ayu moments... were cringe worthy as usual. The only impressive thing was the whole ribbon thing... which is admittedly really good.

What really really impressed me is the chemistry between her and Maro (I think?). He's quite good compared to Shuya and he looks way hotter. It's a shame they coupled him with another dancer rather than Ayu. I also liked how she looked like she was having fun performing rather than mechanically singing to get over with it. You can see her jump and pounce around like a kid, which was actually fun. She seems to be reviving some classics, like Signal which are excellent concert songs. Most of the songs sounded relatively good, though nothing spectacular.

I think that with more time for Ayu to prepare her concert, (especially to practice her choreography) it would've been much much better. Echoing many users, I'd say Ayu needs a real choreographer like the TRF girls.

Overall, it was an okay tour though definitely a downgrade from her previous stuff but certain things have improved from her past concerts. Her dancers seemed all over the place to fill in the gaps but at least her backing singers weren't. Also her outfits were sometimes too tacky to ignore but Ayu still managed to look gorgeous as always. At least she looked like she was having fun and despite all the flaws, Ayu can hold an audience hooked with her charisma. Also the screens and the stage were as fantastic as ever.

[shizukanaotoko]

i thought her vocals were sooo good! i was talking to my friend from japan who's in TA though and he said that they always "fix" the vocals for the live dvds... is that true? has anyone been to the performance used for the corresponding tour dvd and found that she sounded different?

[Maemi]

^ of course it's true.