Thoughts on PCDL '08-'09

[maikaru]

SHU-YA's hairstyle is sooo old now..
Maybe 2 years?
Ayu changes her hair every like 3 months, and he... once every 1,000 ahaha
Thats why I like Maro + Ayu now, he is new~ and his hair is better LOL

[jbrat2219]

Originally Posted by MYV*izm

I don't mind her being bad at lipsyncing, it just shows that she hasn't done it enough to be good at it.

Excellent point!!!

[mja7033]

even though she lip sang ANGEL's SONG, i thought it was really good!

[Coelacanth]

Originally Posted by js_surrealism

Why lip-syncing is an issue? My enjoyment of a live performance is affected majorly on how much I believe that the performance, is, well, live. If she's going to just mouth to a pre-recorded track and HAVE US BELIEVE THAT SHE IS SINGING IT LIVE, I'd feel cheated, as a fan, who has defended her on numerous occasions of her musical integrity. I don't go into every live show trying to spot mistakes, but I think we can all agree that these errors were far too obvious to be missed, and once I have reason to question that she is singing live, my appreciation of the show is compromised, because I don't know for sure if she is singing live for the rest of the show.

Why can't everyone think this way?

[Ayumi27]

I just finished watching PCDL

Overall, it was a great show, even though many elements like the stage and costumes were recycled, but still it had a generous budget considering it's a two-night only show.

The best were the In The Corner and Will performances, the intro and AT2008 videos, the conmemorative video and the "Kawaii section" dress, since it wasn't as ridiculous as in previous shows haha. Also, it was cool to include vogue in that section instead of the "oriental" one as we may expected considering the song's previous performances. Another cool thing was the colour of the stage and lighting used. Finally, her vocals were outstanding!! She probably lip-synched ANGELS' SONG and maybe one or two more songs, but that's forgiven considering her pain and the lenght of the show!

Still, I found some songs boring, specially Over, and the GREEN opening too, since it wasn't an spectacular entrance like CDL 04-05 WHATEVER or CDL 06-07 ourselves. Anyway, I apriciate Ayu's attempt to elaborate such an interesting setlist, and how hard she tried not to show her pain... And what about that glittering thing in her hand? Was that covering something or it's just my imagination??

[jbrat2219]

Okay now that I FINALLY finished the entire main concert, I can give an opinion :O

In short, best countdown live in the history of Ayu countdown lives! Hmm, that's not a fair assessment since I haven't seen them all so -> best countdown live in the history of Ayu countdown lives that I've seen xD;

1.GREEN

This song sounds great live! I'm glad she didn't perform it until now because this kind of performance is what the song deserves

2.Will

Although I saw this being performed differently in my mind, I'm just happy she performed it at all! Part of me really wanted a beautiful fan/umbrella dance to this, I think it would have been very suiting.

3.vogue

I use to think this song was just okay and chose to listen to a remix of it if I felt the need to listen. But after hearing it live I appreciate it much more I like the outfit she wore with it but a more traditional one would have been cool too? It would have kept with the oriental theme of GREEN/Will.

4.HONEY

"MY HONEY!" I don't like this song but it's fun to see live She had very good vocals, they weren't as annoying as the recorded version lol.

5.ANGEL'S SONG

I'm going to go against the norm here and say I LOVED it when she messed up that line at the end of the chorus! I'm sorry it was just too funny. I know some may take lip-synching seriously, but I'm not just one of those people. I look at moments like this as carefree and jokingly as I do when she screws up Trauma. It's one thing if it's A Song for XX, Who..., M or tracks that she's famous for and touch the listener's heart. But come on! It's ANGEL'S SONG xD;....

6.End of the World

I think this should go down in the AyuRock Hall of Fame. I never paid this song much attention, I listened to it when I saw the set list and I pretty much had a good feeling she would rock the house with this track. She sure didn't let me down I personally hope she re-records this song because her current stronger voice makes this song REALLY stand out.

7.Heartplace

This song is perfect after all that awesome we get from End of the World! Back in the day I didn't have much access to Ayu lives, but I remember seeing this song live way back during the RAINBOW era. Out of the two, this performance was much better. SO powerful, she did my hidden love justice!

8.Real me

I think this was the best choreography of the night! It's great to see her really moving along with the song and she looks SO much more natural than she did in the music video! And great vocals on top of that? Age hasn't slowed her down, she's better than ever ^-^b

9.And Then ~ Naturally

And then, Naturally.... I fell in love with these two songs all over again haha. They sound so good together as well I've never seen these live, so it was a real treat!

10.In The Corner

Great choreography, great outfits, great stage lighting! I think the lighting on the stage played a key role in the atmosphere of the song and performance! She turned what was often called an "album filler" into one of the best performances of the show.

11.POWDER SNOW

I think this was the biggest anticipated performance, right? :O In my opinion, Ayu did not disappoint. Her outfit for this was SPECTACULAR! (I'm sure when my mom sees it she'll fall in love haha). I think it would be interesting to see her mix POWDER SNOW and P.S. II together somehow. Unlike the HANABIs, these two sound very similar, if I'm not mistaken?

12.HOPE or PAIN

Beautiful dress, great vocals! I think someone mentioned they wanted to see Shu-ya fall? Yeah, that would have been great xD; But it would have also ruined the flow of the song. I'm so use to hearing the classical version of this song I was freaking out because I thought they re-arranged it hahahahaha. Boy am I slow lol.

13.Over

"It's over..." yet another lip mistake by our inexperienced lip syncer Ayumi Hamasaki. To be honest, who cares . I'm not sure why she would want to lip that one part, but I don't quite care either. I love this song, always have and I was thrilled to see it sung live. That little mishap didn't ruin it for me.

14.SCAR

I fell in love with the song way before I found out it was underrated lol. It's one of her album ballads that really stood out to me and she gave such a beautiful performance for it! I love how it came after HOPE or PAIN and Over! It's like a theme, "I wasn't sure if what we had was HOPE or PAIN, but now it's over, I've lost my love, now there's a SCAR in my heart."

15.SIGNAL ~ Hana ~ too late

Since these songs are so old, hearing them again in her voice now I was blown away! To be honest, I think SIGNAL and Hana are truly great songs! I remember when I first got into Ayu, I would dance to these two non-stop (it was of no coincidence that they were on my first purchased CD ayu-mi-x non-stop mega mix hahahaha). I think Ayu's voice added some flavor that the songs desperately needed.

16.UNITE!

As energetic and entertaining as always. Although I noticed Ayu couldn't make a complete fist with her injured hand. She closed it as if she were holding an invisible mic. I was wondering why she constantly held the mic in that hand but I guess it's like a safety net so she doesn't close her hand all the way and it limits the amount of pain.

17.SURREAL~evolution~SURREAL

Great crowd pumping songs! I'm not sure what lip "whoo yo chan" part everyone was talking about... evolution was totally live and her lips totally moved during that part so...

(10th anniversary commemoration video)

I'm not sure what the guy was saying but it was nice seeing all those old clips from Ayu's past concerts! It looks like her concerts were always very extravagant :O

18.Who...

I think this was a better countdown song that last year's RAINBOW. As much as I love that song, something was very off about it as the countdown track...

19.Trauma

Did anyone else notice how HARD Ayu tried to remember the lyrics? xD; I love how everyone in the audience knew it better than her! Also, I'm not saying anything was lipped, but did anyone notice the random "WHOO" NOT coming from Ayu's mouth? Lol, I think maybe the audio/video sync was off again, but she was just walking along and I hear this random "WHOO!!!" and I didn't know where it came from hahaha.

20.independent

Best thing about this performance was the energy of it, I have never seen someone so excited about throwing balls at people in my life lmao. Her vocals were really good as well, you could totally tell it was live. And did anyone see that nice little throw she gave with her injured hand? I was like, "GOOD JOB AYU!!!"

21.everywhere nowhere

I was totally singing along with the song, I don't know why it was never a staple song. It's so lively and energetic! Her vocals were top notch! I noticed a slightly different arrangement during the verses (I don't know music lingo so correct me if I'm wrong)?

22.Mirrorcle World

Hands down, best Mirrorcle World live performance VOCALLY! She looked great in that outfit as well! Yeah, it wasn't as WOAH as some other performances like a-nation. But her vocals were really really really really good. And I totally think it's definitely live because her vocals were never that good for this song hahahaha. Too bad they weren't as great at Kouhaku or the ladies may have had a stronger chance

I really enjoyed this concert thus far and I can't wait for it to come out on DVD so I can watch THE REST hahahaha Jeez I can't believe I watched all that and it's still not over :O

[ihulk2]

Originally Posted by Kikaru

...this is going to make me sound like a bad person...but...

In Hope or Pain when Shuya ran across the stage, am I the only one who was waiting for him to trip?

Nope.

Seriously, he may be a nice enough guy, and a good dancer too.
Ayu seems comfortable with him, and she's no fool.
But he's been her principal dancer for too long. No matter how hard he tries, the moves appear so I've-seen-this-before and come across stale, so I just blank him out or switch off until he disappears.

[GRACE]

I really felt bad for Shuya having to flail around like that in leather pants.

Like I seriously think some of these wardrobe decisions were chosen while she was doped up on the pain meds.

"I waaaaaaaaanna beee a frariy priiiiiiiiinceeesss...hehehaa..."--Ayu

[ownsarai]

Originally Posted by Ayumi27

And what about that glittering thing in her hand? Was that covering something or it's just my imagination??

She also had this on Kouhaku, probably to keep the stitches on her hand from showing? She just had surgery after all.

Anyhow~ I do have to say that I thought the show as a whole was EXCELLENT! Her vocals were absolutely amazing~ My favorite performances had to be...
GREEN (Finally! A live version!!!!!!)
Will (<3)
HONEY (CUTE!!!)
ANGEL'S SONG (yes, even though she lipped it)
End of the World (Beautiful!!!)
Heartplace (WE ARE FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3)
Real me (mostly because Ayu did the dance from the PV~)
In The Corner (YES!!!)
POWDER SNOW (LOVE!!!)
HOPE or PAIN (I don't particularly LIKE this song, but the performance was very moving)
Over(OMG! I can die and be happy now~ I love this song so much!!!)
SCAR (very nicely done~)
Who...(rock arrangement) (even though that outfit was horrid!)
everywhere nowhere (Another LOVE song for me!!)
Mirrorcle World (Will always be love for me...but next performance I hope to see that high kick back in there! )

[love in music]

Originally Posted by GRACE

I really felt bad for Shuya having to flail around like that in leather pants.

Like I seriously think some of these wardrobe decisions were chosen while she was doped up on the pain meds.

"I waaaaaaaaanna beee a frariy priiiiiiiiinceeesss...hehehaa..."--Ayu

you make the best comments

[GRACE]

Her being doped up is also a good way to explain Over. That's the one where they filmed a whole lot of her looking at herself on the screen right?

"look at me, I'm so pretty"--Ayu, zoning out
"Dammit, she's supposed to be singing!"--Peco, turning on the recorded version of Over.
"IIIIIIIIIIIT'S OOOOOOOOOOOV"--Radio
"**** right! *lifts mike* VEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER"--Ayu

[Endless_RAINBOW]

I think ayu did a very good job in this PCDL. I enyoyed watching most of the concert and I'm really happy because she sang a lot of songs that I wanted to hear. IMO, the best parts of the concerts are the asia-themed beginning with "GREEN" and "Will", "In the Corner", the ballads and the "SIGNAL" "Hana" medley. I don't feel cheated of disappointed because of the lipsynch issue. Actually, I prefer that way because what I really enjoy about her lives is the whole show, not only her vocals. I wish I had the money to buy this concert, because is very good.

[maikaru]

Originally Posted by GRACE

Her being doped up is also a good way to explain Over. That's the one where they filmed a whole lot of her looking at herself on the screen right?

"look at me, I'm so pretty"--Ayu, zoning out
"Dammit, she's supposed to be singing!"--Peco, turning on the recorded version of Over.
"IIIIIIIIIIIT'S OOOOOOOOOOOV"--Radio
"**** right! *lifts mike* VEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER"--Ayu

Yeah!!!! it was weird.. I was like "the audience is not in the screen!!!" ahahaha
But I think it's sync issues with the video about the "it's over" cause she sings the other "it's over"

~~~

Maybe I wanna think for some reasons she just did the motsu thing to let us know she is lipsyncing???
Because she didnt even change her mouthing to the correct lyrics~ ahaha
But I love the Angel's Song performance.. like the cute moves and stuff~
I felt so "awww~~~ cute!!!"
and I am one of the few who loves the fairy princess costume!!~ ahaha

And I loved in Trauma, how she screams "YA!" after the high note..
It was like..

Ayu: "Yeah!!!! > : P I am so great tonight!! wooo"
Producers: "she is so high on drugs right now... -_-)"

[Jeremy911]

Originally Posted by GRACE

Her being doped up is also a good way to explain Over. That's the one where they filmed a whole lot of her looking at herself on the screen right?

"look at me, I'm so pretty"--Ayu, zoning out
"Dammit, she's supposed to be singing!"--Peco, turning on the recorded version of Over.
"IIIIIIIIIIIT'S OOOOOOOOOOOV"--Radio
"**** right! *lifts mike* VEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER"--Ayu

ROFL... I could totally see that happening

[waterballoon]

Originally Posted by GRACE

I really felt bad for Shuya having to flail around like that in leather pants.

Like I seriously think some of these wardrobe decisions were chosen while she was doped up on the pain meds.

"I waaaaaaaaanna beee a frariy priiiiiiiiinceeesss...hehehaa..."--Ayu

LOL. You might want to consider a fairy princess with a fugly translucent furry (oh yeah Shuuya gets blond furret on his hair and I get pink furret on my bathe robe!) pink bath robe that can reveal my white long boots!

[SheFliesHigher]

It is UNBELIEVABLE how hostile some of you people became in this thread. You must be barrels of fun in real life.

Sunshineslayer definitely deserves an apology from somebody. Not like anyone is going to be mature enough to offer one. She apologized herself more than once. Good God, take a pill or a nap or something. Whatever you have to do to not act like she just stabbed your grandmother.

[SunshineSlayer]

Originally Posted by SheFliesHigher

It is UNBELIEVABLE how hostile some of you people became in this thread. You must be barrels of fun in real life.

Sunshineslayer definitely deserves an apology from somebody. Not like anyone is going to be mature enough to offer one. She apologized herself more than once. Good God, take a pill or a nap or something. Whatever you have to do to not act like she just stabbed your grandmother.

Thankyou very much, SheFliesHigher. I'm glad that someone realized that it was out of line. Even I was worried that maybe I had said something incredibly hurtful, or off base or something like that to deserve those kinds of responses so I went back and checked my posts, but really couldn't find anything like that - so I was left pretty much dumb struck and hurt. But anyways, thankyou - I appreciate it.

[Ayumi_lover]

^SunshineSlayer, sorry for bothering, but what about PCDL from other source?)))) We're really looking forward to see it

[taskinillusion]

Originally Posted by waterballoon

Also, I've watched Over... and it's another weird mystery. "It's Over" is definitely iffy cos the audio came out before the mic was even near her mouth... but after that when the circle stage moves down, you can see that it was very jerky, and her arms were flabbing. At that moment, the 'ta' that she was singing was heavily accented/attacked, clearly showing that her vocals were affected by the jerking motion of the stage... meaning it's most likely live.

I noticed how jerky the circle stage started going down too and how that seemed to affect her. Glad you pointed that out.

Originally Posted by Kikaru

...this is going to make me sound like a bad person...but...

In Hope or Pain when Shuya ran across the stage, am I the only one who was waiting for him to trip?

LMAO! Hahaha yes! I think Shuya is pretty played out these days. I'm really ready to see Ayu with another lead dancer and I'm reeeally liking Maro.

[KLJames]

overall the chosen song is more good compare to prev CDL esp will n real me. but too sad realise she lip-sync many esp angel's song (around 26:55). not so prefect ...