Rock In Japan FES
1. Tokyo I'm On My Way
2. Ai no shirushi
3. DOKI DOKI
4. Dareka ga
5. Bring it on
6. Asia no Junshin
7. Nagisa ni matsuwaru etc.
8. My Story
Summer Sonic 09
1. Tokyo I'm On My Way
2. Ai no shirushi
3. Bring it on
4. Dareka ga
5. Hi Hi
6. I Don't Wanna
7. Asia no Junshin
8. Nagisa ni Matsuwaru etc.
9. My Story
Ami also posted a number pictures from Summer Sonic 09 via Puffy's MySpace blog. Here are a couple from that blog.
Photo credits: Summer Sonic 09
It's so quiet, I thought I could hear a collective, sharp intake of breath.
ReplyDeleteHas any video of the performances turned up yet?
Yeah, so much for giving some conversation fodder!
ReplyDeleteI am still mulling my next album reviews, which one will hit next week... as to which one... good question.
Sometimes it's just hard to know what to say, Wes. I think most of us self-censor our comments pretty well and so avoid the "*** is really looking hot!" observations most of the time. But jeez...
ReplyDeleteIt's certainly a new look for Yumi. And I take back anything I've said recently concerning possible health issues, et cetera.
Yeah I saw these when I found that photo of Ami playing her Brian Setzer Hot Rod... thought they were a little out of the ordinary, but then it is probably scorching hot and humid there right now. I've never understood how they can wear all those layers in summer there like they have been over the past few years.
ReplyDeleteStill I don't think this is the first time Yumi's dressed this way, and I'm sure she's actually wearing shorts - when I've seen this look on her before, it's been some kind of skirt over shorts.
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ReplyDeleteJeff, I wonder at the same thing when I am is SE Asia and dying wearing flip flops, shorts and a t-shirt and the Singaporeans are going forth in business formal like it was nothing.
ReplyDeleteBonsaipark, I still think Yumi is edging towards the too skinny, but I am forced to retract my earlier comments. :/
Yeah, those are probably shorts.
ReplyDeleteI like that it appears (though photos can be deceiving, I know) that they're actually putting some effort into their old, goofy dances. I know in some live performances I've seen Ami barely looks like she can be bothered to move sometimes.
> I know in some live performances I've seen Ami barely looks like she can be bothered to move sometimes.
ReplyDeleteHas she totally stopped ending songs with the bunny hop?
I'm pretty sure she still does the bunny hop. It's more with the old singles that have choreography (like "Ai no Shirushi," which is what they're performing in the second photo above) that Ami usually looks like she'd rather be somewhere else. Yumi is generally a little more energetic while performing the old dance moves.
ReplyDeletebonsaipark / Anthony: The Shibuya AX concert via the singles Ami bunny hops a couple times, I have noticed sort of odd body positioning by her... But she seemed more spry in the Shibuya AX vids.
ReplyDeleteBoth have admitted they are not very good dancers so their choreography has always been kept simple. Which as their careers roll on is more endearing than cheesy to me...
Jeeze, the comments have just exploded lately. Wes knows how to bring 'em in, I guess :)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I have always maintained that their choreography has always been at least somewhat ironic. Not a total joke, but it's definitely not done as straight as any of the really mainstream divas do. They seem to have kind of a hipster mentality about it, in that they're almost making fun of it but also having legitimate fun *with* it at the same time.
But if that's the case, then I could see as they get older how one or both of them might just get tired of it. People seem to naturally get more serious as they get older, and maybe Ami's just bored with their simplistic little semi-ironic hipster dances. The funny thing about Ami is that while she's always been more of the center of attention, I've always felt like she's not nearly as much of a ham for the audience as Yumi is. Yumi really gets into it almost every time, but Ami seems like she really needs to be fed energy before she'll give it back to the crowd.
Take away my comments... that total goes waaay down! ha!
ReplyDeleteThis touches on a blog I have been kicking around, so if anyone sees this meme again, sorry!
I think you touch upon their general humility. Look at the bonus material in Tour! Puffy! Tour! 10 Final. How many female pop stars would do any video work sans make up? Their humility and sense of fun has won me over as much as their music.
People do change, but the seem to have a workman like perspective on what they do. I agree with the Yumi and Ami energy, but I think as of late Yumi has been more energetic, but snapping back to the Fever Fever concert vid I would have said the opposite...
Yeah, Ami is VERY energetic in the old concert vids. Then, for whatever reason (getting married and having a child, or simply growing older) she became more subdued.
ReplyDeleteI can understand if they're tired of doing the old routines and the like (they've been doing this for nearly fifteen years, after all), but if that's the case I think they should just cut out the old dances instead of giving an obviously bored performance.
Yes, as I've mentioned in other posts, they seem to have sort of switched live personas over the years. But it seems to me that that was a case of Ami sort of carrying Yumi in the beginning, and Yumi being really nervous a lot of the time; now, Yumi's really come out of her shell, so maybe Ami doesn't feel so much pressure to command all that attention anymore.
ReplyDeleteI haven't actually seen her looking outright bored, but I've seen her looking dark and introverted, which is a different thing. Maybe some of that is just me projecting, but like in the video from Shibuya AX of "Kimo to Autobike", she barely moves at all but she doesn't look bored to me. She just looks really, really evil. I actually like it.
I think they've always done their live choreography a little half-assed, because it's just hard to do some of their choreography while also holding microphones and being on a small stage... like in "kore ga watashi no ikirumichi", where they just swing their arms back and forth... I mean they've always done it that way, and it's always looked a little strange. I think it's just meant to invoke the thought of the dance, but it's not really the dance. Same with something like "mogura-like", where there's always that weird section where it looks like they're just repeatedly grabbing their sides and bobbing their heads from side to side. They always look kind of ridiculous doing it, but it's all they can really do while singing into a microphone. I guess they never got into wearing headsets, and I'm glad of that.
Ami bunny hops enthusiastically through most of the 2007 and 2008 shows I’ve seen clips from (Shibuya AX, Rock in Japan, J-Wave), but I can’t recall a single instance in 2009. Somewhere along in there, there might have been a transitional, half-hearted attempt (knees slightly bent, 3 or 4 inches elevation), but I can’t recall that clip at the moment.
ReplyDeleteI'm not going to suggest a health-related explanation this time! Maybe it’s just a matter of decorum... another indication of a more serious attitude on Ami’s part?
Interesting discussion of Puffy and dancing. I thought Jeff’s "making fun of" while "having fun with" description, in particular, seemed to capture their attitude very well.
ReplyDeleteAlthough my first reaction to the routines was that they were a little silly, it's hard now to think of any of those songs without immediately picturing the moves that go with them. It's always fun to see them turn up again, and I'm sure I'd miss them if Ami and Yumi stopped. From the looks of the crowds at a typical Puffy concert, with hundreds of people joining in the routines, many others would miss it as well. It's like a tribal, ceremonial celebration.
I know Puffy downplays their dancing skills (where did I read that their approach is to "do it as if you're inebriated"?), but in my opinion the problem is only when (as Danny Kaye sings in "White Christmas") they're doing choreography. Whenever they break into one of the old 50s-60s dances, which they were fairly prone to do in the early shows and videos, they're just fine. That doesn’t qualify them as "professional" dancers, of course, but they're certainly anything but klutzes.
If I had to chose between simple choreography and good singing or awesome dancing and lip synching... I will take the former. :)
ReplyDelete