Original article [here].
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[LIVE Report] Hamasaki Ayumi’s 15th Anniversary Tour ends. “Everyone, please smile until the day we meet again. Promise me!”
28 July 2013. 21:00
The nationwide arena tour commemorating Hamasaki Aumi’s 15th debut Anniversary “ayumi hamasaki 15th Anniversary TOUR ~A BEST LIVE~” played its finale show on 28 July at the National Yoyogi First Gymnasium.
This tour, playing 28 shows in 12 venues for about 220,000 audience, is a best-of live created for the first time from fan votes on songs to decide the setlist, based on ayu’s feelings of “wanting to create a show together with fans who have supported me these past 15 years”. 241 songs from the time of her debut to the latest track (excluding 15th Anniversary commemorative song “Tell All”) were voted on by fans to choose the Top 50 tracks, of which 20 were performed during the performance (33 different songs made the setlist throughout the tour).
Similar to previous tours, the show, setlist, goods, band members, stage layout including stage curtain and floor material, and even minor details such as decoration designs are all built from concepts dreamt up by ayu herself.
On the night of the finale, 12,000 fans filled Yoyogi First Gymnasium and dyed the venue pink even before show start.
Then, 15 years’ worth of ayu’s MVs played in a flashback as a countdown began. With the phrase “Welcome to our cruel Beautiful World.”, the live started with a solemn atmosphere. Dancers dressed in masks hung suspended to bring out an ominous and chaotic feel, as ayu made her appearance wearing a mantle studded with petals and a mask, on a cross floating 10m above the stage.
“Let’s go, Yoyogi!”
ayu, clad in a silver leather jacket and jewelled black leather one-piece suit, shouted, and the show started off with “A Song for XX”. Throughout the show, ayu exploited her cute side with a school style outfit with “Fly high” and “HONEY”, as well as displayed her elegance with a huge off-shoulder dress studded with bouquets with “M” and “No way to say”. There was also a summer style with a neon yellow tube top and white shorts for colourful ayu summer song “BLUE BIRD”. There were a total of 11 costume changes.
It was a show which showed off the different sides of ayu, including a salmon pink retro-style long coat when she performed “poker face” with a cute smile, as if flashing back to a time 15 years ago. The biggest highlight was when ayu appeared inside a large pool filled with 300 litres of water suspended 6m above the stage, where she performed “HEAVEN”. It was the first time ayu utilized a pool in her performance. The lighting effects, the dreamy balladic colours, and the story of two lovers’ deaths linked well to “HEAVEN”‘s lyrics, creating a dramatic atmosphere for the song.
“Wake me up” was performed by a sexy and cool ayu in a red one-piece enamel suit, with an illusion trick when a dancer locked in chains switched places with ayu in an instant. It was not just a simple concert, but truly Hamasaki Ayumi’s entertainment show, filled with surprise and emotion.
During the encore, ayu performed fan-favourite ballad “teddy bear” while holding the hand of a teddy bear plush sitting on a chair. Then, as Yoyogi was filled with emotion, ayu spoke about her 15th Anniversary.
“This year’s “A BEST LIVE” really passed by in the blink of an eye. Currently, I still haven’t really thought about the whole thing yet, but I’m sure that after this, as some time passes, I will slowly come to terms with my feelings about the tour. As the words on the screen said just now, the past 15 years were really given to me by everyone. Thank you for that.”
“I want to stay connected with everyone some more tonight!” With this shout, ayu’s spirit brought everyone to continue with the finale encore. Twirling towels during “Sunrise ~LOVE is ALL~”, throwing balls into the audience during “Boys&Girls”, the mood in the venue just got hotter.
Lastly, she remained in the centre of the stage alone, and performed “Who…” while bathed in a single spotlight. “From now till forever, let this voice reach out to everyone”: with a change in lyrics, ayu’s singing voice delivered her feelings to the audience as they waved the pink lights side to side. After the song, ayu put down the mike amidst loud cheers. Sweeping her gaze across the audience, as if confirming the smiles of every fan, she placed a finger upon her lips.
“Thank you!!”
ayu’s gratitude reached out to all corners of Yoyogi First Gymnasium through her raw voice. In response, the 12,000 people at Yoyogi answered with neverending cheers.
Even after the encore, the “ayu call” continued on. In answer to that, the stage curtains parted once again. For the double encore, ayu performed the last song “MY ALL” to end the show. She also made a promise with the fans, “To everyone at Yoyogi and all the fans in Japan, thank you so much. Everyone, please smile until the day we meet again. Promise me!”. With that, the 15th Anniversary tour came to an end.
“This tour began as a commemoration of my 15th debut Anniversary. Since then, the fans from all over the country welcomed us warmly, while many staff members gave us their support. We’ve now come to the finale, and I’m really happy for that. I have been doing things my way for the past 15 years, and I hope to continue that in the future. This year’s autumn will be filled with production work, so I’ll be taking on various new challenges while creating new songs. Please look forward to it.” – Hamasaki Ayumi
Hamasaki Ayum will go on to close the show at “a-nation studium fes.2013” at Ajinomoto Stadium on 1 September.
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It was the Countdown Live held in 2008, celebrating her 10th Anniversary. Recorded in the live DVD “ayumi hamasaki PREMIUM COUNTDOWN LIVE 2008-2009 A” were the words: Hamasaki Ayumi’s shows were not concerts, but “dreams”.
Within the space of sacred groung Yoyogi First Gymnasium, separated from reality, a unique dream was unleashed, lasting for only a few hours. In that time, we felt excitement, anxiety and were finally moved to tears in the world created by Hamasaki Ayumi.
On 8 April 1998, she debuted with single “poker face”, and have since held 405 live concerts, playing to a total of 4 million people. Hamasaki Ayumi, and ayu’s troupe, have shown many people dreams these past 15 years, and subsequently charmed them. Of course, through the years, she has been hurt, she has failed, she has experienced pain. However, she continued to stand on stage, as if all that had never happened.
“Tell All” was created to commemorate the 15th Anniversary. Similar to “MY ALL”, the last song for the concert, this song has the word “ALL” in its title, and is a song containing a message from ayu to the fans.
“In order to love you, I’ve chosen this fight”
“I will become the reason you breathe”
During the tour finale’s emcee, ayu’s short message included the quote, “the past 15 years were really given to me by everyone. Thank you.” Maybe “Tell All” is the way she has chosen to tell us about her reasons for going through the past 15 years, and her reasons for continuing to fight.
Hamasaki Ayumi has shown many people a dream. However, the dream has not ended. She will continue walking on as Hamasaki Ayumi, together with every one of her fans.
“Holding freedom in my right hand, and love in my left”.
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GALLERY
