Thoughts on A BEST LIVE

[truehappiness]

I have yet to see the concert in full but I am blown away so far. It's not as theatrical or as in your face as Rock'n'Roll Circus Tour... but WOW. Everything is so polished and well done, from the outfits to the interludes to the way the screens were utilized and more... it's like they took elements from her best performances and honed them until they were their absolute best! I will say though that this concert reminded me of a COUNTDOWN LIVE somewhat but with an extremely high budget, haha.

Such goodness, really. Will probably do a more in-depth critique or something later?

Opening (lyric clips) - why did they choose certain tracks' lyrics? Were they trying to say something?

Timmy/Chorus pre-ASFXX - what is Timmy saying? The effect of all the dancers being chained up in their masks is pretty awesome. The Ayu reveal is also quite epic. I wish they showed more of her in that red mask! I like Timmy, but he needs to be taken away from these front-and-center English roles. It was okay for HOTEL Love songs, but seeing him in a-nations and now this... I don't want him around like this.

ASFXX - Perfection.

Memorial address - " " (see above). (the screens were to die for here)

Massive Trance Station - I need this track NOW. (maybe not with Timmy's Rule bit)

pre-poker face - Yay, she's writing messages to fans again. I think they had to do with the poker face lyrics loosely?

poker face - Very adorable. It's a more mature version of the performance she had for A MUSEUM and I think I prefer this one completely. That coat! Though I don't know about how live this was since the vocals were 100% perfect but they could be?

Fly high - I am usually not very fond of Fly high performances, but this felt incredibly fresh and I wanted to watch it in full! Maybe it's just because it wasn't in the encore? That ending hop with the transition with the male dancers/performers is neat.

HONEY - Ayu in glasses! We need more of this in our lives. Awkward geeky Ayu never ceases to be entertaining. I think more of Ayu's schoolgirl performances need to be like this. Sometimes things look a little haphazard but in the years since she started (2007-2008?) doing this type of performance, they really have it down. It was probably the most rough looking for AT09 (baseball/cheerleaders) thinking back, though I could be overlooking some.

Will talk about the rest later! Please share your thoughts here if you can!

EDITED TO ADD because I'll probably forget later: 2-YAN... WTF y u wearin' beats? Also, I feel like they could have done an 'A' [logo] moment there... Ayu needs to release her own brand of headphones. Oh, and seeing older women jamming out during the 2-YAN trance session makes me feel all tingly inside.

[Pieces_of_SEVEN]

Haven't watched the blu ray yet, but I imagine it'll be a similar affect to when I saw it at Yoyogi (or maybe not? we'll see). But my favorite performances were A Song for, You & Me, HEAVEN, Tell all, Who..., HONEY, Fly high, M, and BLUE BIRD.

Favorite outfit was the BLUE BIRD / You & Me outfit with the DJ stage.

[Deep snow]

Finished watching the Bluray a couple of hours ago. It was awesome.

It felt really nostalgic, and the songs kind of do represent the "BEST" of her 15 years (kind of? Most of them do, at least). And, I don't know how to say this, but the whole concert is really...good-looking. It was visual perfection. I wish it were longer, though.

(I actually had other reservations about this but let's just leave this at that for the time being)

[DevilHunter_04]

I liked it a lot. It was a really solid concert. The "interludes" were kinda boring and pointless in my opinion. The only one that got my attention was the aerial ever free act and the acrobatic one.

[ayu-michan]

I really like this tour, she's been giving us 6 amazing concerts since 2010 (including CDL), and this one may not be as good as RnRC or HLS, but it's still really well done. The tracklist was nice, I love asfxx costume, and compare to the past concerts, I find this tour's interludes not that boring, they actually caught my attention.

All I'm wondering is where is dancer AKI ?? I hope she didn't quit because I didn't see her in a-nation as well.

[truehappiness]

AKI must have taken temporary leave. Kayano also did this along with Subaru.

[jiarongisme]

Finished watching it last night. Overall, it's great. Much better than I expected. When you watch everything as a whole, it feels really wholesome and really well executed.

I loved Ayu's entrance in A Song for ××. The masks on the dancers are really freaky though. It made me feel kinda uncomfortable Saw the original outfit in the credits and I actually prefer that one, but the one she used for the final show was alright. Also, I had a huge lighting design boner for Memorial address. It's one of the rare times when I actually like the lighting design for this song. I didn't like how it was in AT10 tbh, but this one was really well done. Actually, the lighting design for the entire concert was really well done this time

Massive Trance Station was EPIC. The short poker face video after that was great too, I just wished I knew what it said (I think I would appreciate what the interlude videos even more if I understood what was said.) I loved everything about MTS, maybe not when Timmy sang Rule but everything else was great. My favorite part of the concert has got to be this entire cute section. Everything was great - maybe except the pink coat. I love that Ayu did some choreography and it looked really fun! And truehappiness was right, Fly high DOES feel fresh. It's an updated version, and I love it! Again, the choreography during the verses was really fun to watch. I wished it was longer though. HONEY was great, I loved her softer approach on how she sings it.

I didn't really care for SHOW TIME. M was great, not stale, great manoeuvres around stage. No way to say too. Maybe it's just me, but I'd prefer it without Shuya flailing around on stage while she was singing though (like CAROLS in AT05). The snow effect was really well done. Another great usage of all the screens.

DJ 2-YAN's section was fun. I think I would love it more if I was actually there. But hey, it's still fun to watch. The transition from that to You & Me was flawless. I was so happy about that . This section was fun. Didn't like the outfit though. I prefer the one at the beginning legs of the tour.

innervisions was interesting. I wanna know what Ayu was trying to say with this actually. JEWEL and HEAVEN. Wow. Another show-stopping moment for me. Beautiful and heartfelt performances for both. Although I'm not that fond of how she sang HEAVEN, but it's still a great performance. Everything else about this performance was on point though! I loved the shadows of the water onto the stage floor, and how the dancers didn't feel like an unnecessary accessory. HEAVEN's choreography was great. I loved it. Also, isn't it refreshing to have Ayu smile and present a ballad? JEWEL was 100000x better because of that.

I zoned out at the tissue dance at ever free because I still think that it's really boring and stale after the first time it was introduced. Wake me up was cool. I liked that they used the version they used in the CDL (Remo-con mixed with the original). For some reason, I didn't see the dancers during Tell All in the preview. So I was a little bit taken aback when I saw the full performance. And I'm not sure if I like it. Tell All is such an empowering Ayu song from her heart, I was kinda expecting her to be alone on stage for this one. I think it would've been much stronger. But I don't hate it I guess

The interlude video was great. I really wanna know what she's saying! It must be something really sentimental seeing how a lot of the fans are crying in the audience. I really liked SURREAL ~ evolution ~ SURREAL this time. SURREAL with the swing (GORGEOUS), and evolution and the little things she's done with the staging - I really love it. Voyage was awesome visually. Really simple, but the use of the dancers were really smart imo. I really don't like Ayu as a hype-girl though lmao.

Encore stuff is pretty typical. Nothing special. I got a bit teary-eyed at Who... and MY ALL though. Suddenly a lot of feelings about how I felt about Ayu came to me

Overall, it's a really cohesive anniversary concert. Is it on-par with AT05/AT10? No. But that's only because it's a different type of concert altogether. But it's still amazing nonetheless. Between both "anniversary" type tours, I definitely prefer this over AT08.

Also, has anyone noticed how the camera work was much better this time? Or maybe it's the same but the editing was well done. It felt cinematic, sorta. The last time I felt this way was for AT10/A3D II but that's because it's meant for a cinematic release. This one was great! I loved that they showed a lot of the audience this time - although sometimes it felt like audience feat. Go-mi

I really enjoyed this concert!

[majrakun]

Just started watching it, but does anyone else think is probably the BEST band intro they ever did? I usually skip them but this one was amazing!

[ayu-michan]

From what I heard, I think this is what she said

My 15 years were the 15 years that you gave me

I was supported by your smiles

Your tears were my courage

(Because) you did not give up on me

Our dreams are still continuing.

Please correct me if I'm wrong

[truehappiness]

That's about the gist I got from the flashback sequence, haha.

Originally Posted by majrakun

Just started watching it, but does anyone else think is probably the BEST band intro they ever did? I usually skip them but this one was amazing!

BEST of CDL and CDL07-08's were amazing too imo.

[ayu-michan]

Aah btw does anyone know which concert performance did the last day Wake me up / Tell All 's costume were in?

[hud]

Looks like the costume for SURREAL from CDL 07-08.

[AyuWorld]

i got to watch it last night! i love this concert ^^

yes true the intro is amazing, especially the one when they introduce the band member.

im impressed with Tell All performance! did anyone else realized how good is she when she dances during Tell All? omg Ayu being hot and shaking her booty <3

No Way To Say is a bit disappointing coz i was wishing for Ayu only on the stage rather than Shuya being emo there, theres really no point to be honest , meh

[Kirshwasser]

im in love with my honey performance, its so cute !! been replaying this over and over lol, but dont really like her vocal during heaven performance, sounds too rough to me, but the rest are just pure awesomeness

[hud]

Seriously, do y'all ever realized how beautiful this woman is?

The concert felt like A BEST yet fresh at the same time. ASfXX was amazing, the intro included. Memorial address was also amazing and that was the point of the concert which she looked more beautiful than ever.

poker face was also entertaining and adorable, even though it looked like playback. It doesn't matter tbh, at least she doesn't put the original track to play. I don't really care for the cute part of the concert, but Fly high was enjoyable.

M was amazing. It's always amazing, but it was simple and on point, she gave us the real feeling of the song, and this performance's chorus was one of her best efforts with singing it. I got goosebumps while watching it. No way to say was really good but SHUYA was unnecessary.

You & Me was nice, it's the first performance of the song I like. Could have done without DJ 2-YAN though. She should've performed EnergizE, Greatful days, everywhere nowhere or even Sparkle instead of BLUE BIRD imo. But it was nice.

JEWEL and HEAVEN where wonderful, her voice was beautiful, but I wish she did longer notes on JEWEL's chorus. The concept of the performance is new and refreshing, very nice.

Wake me up was amazing, I love that remix. Tell all was a pleasant surprise, she did the song justice.
SURREAL and evolution were cute. Voyage was interesting and amazing, could have done without the engrish.

I only watched the main show and I don't watch encores since RnRC, but I want to watch Who... sometime soon.
The stage was simple but nice, the screens were well utilized and I really want her to improve it even more next year. The interludes were quite boring but the one with ever free caught my attention.

The concert was pretty nice, when you think Ayu is going to give us a basic show, this woman surprises again. I love her.

[truehappiness]

It was a play on the AT03-04 No way to say, which she did in BEST of CDL and then again in this concert. I wish it was just Ayu too though.

[AyuWorld]

Originally Posted by Kirshwasser

im in love with my honey performance, its so cute !! been replaying this over and over lol, but dont really like her vocal during heaven performance, sounds too rough to me, but the rest are just pure awesomeness

oh yes forgot to mention about this, ive gone crazy when i saw Ayu with her nerd glasses and her school uniform, omg cuteness overload! loved the new choreography so much

feel like crying seeing they appreared on the stage for Poker face, really enjoyable, Midori is so beautiful too !

[AyUmIXx]

i've watched until Teddy Bear, so far, I LOVE EVERY OF IT!
when i saw pics of ayu's outfits and everything months ago, i thought everything looked too simple and it was not liked ayu celebrating her 15th anniversary, like there was something missing, the extravagant feeling was not there. BUT after watching the opening and everything started from it was just AYUAMAZING, I LOVE IT. Her vocal.

my fave parts are ASFXX, Memorial Address, JEWEL, HEAVEN, Wake me Up, Tell All.

[Neko★munication]

Just watched it and loved it. Truth be told, it didn't really come close to HLs for me and I agree it kind of felt like a higher-end CDL but damn it was a fun watch Totally teared up at HEAVEN! I'll write a more in-depth review when it's not 5am

[maxikot]

For me it overcame HLS totally. I can't come back and watch last year's tour cause i am distracted by either Timmy or sth else. This tour is fantastic and i ask for more of such level.