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Old 2012.06.24, 04:02 PM   #31
deadgrandma
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I guessing your question of "why?" about Ringos actions would most likely be answered with a "why not?" by this stage.

Why does everything have to be bad-ass? We have Boris for that.

Also, you disliked it that much but still sat through its entire 135 mins? +1 for effort ;-p

Listen to it as audio rip instead if you find ringo in short shorts so repulsive :-)
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Old 2012.06.24, 05:30 PM   #32
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It's not even necessarily bad-ass.

This cheesy crap is not entertaining to me. If I wanted to see a Broadway musical, I would. I want and expect from Ringo a dignified intensity, not a frivolous spectacle.

And of coures I watched the whole thing, it is Ringo after all. Besides, if I didn't somebody would have said "But you didn't watch the whole thing!"
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Old 2012.06.24, 05:46 PM   #33
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It's topped Discovery as my least favourite concert. Tengoku, Creamy Season, Omatsuri Sawagi and Kuriyama #2 are my highlights but they didn't blow the roof off or anything. It's funny though -- I thought that Creamy Season sounded LESS Ringo-like when SR performed it. I didn't like the setlist, but I think Ringo herself was disappointing more than anything-- between this and Discovery, it seemed like she wasn't trying hard enough. Oh, and I agree that Men Playing With Each Other Under the Sea benefited the most from the orchestra. I can't be bothered to be disappointed about the trashiness of the costumes and dancers, etc.

It did make me look at TJ’s career retrospectively though. If Bon Voyage suggests that they were going for campy cartoony clusterfuck all along, then I now think that Variety is the best album out of the latter three. . If we agree that part of Shiina's appeal is how 'raw' she is, then Variety is the only album out of the three that has traces of that appeal -- not in just her vocals, but in how undisciplined the band is and how clunky and scattershot the individual tracks are. It makes for an amusing side story (gaiden!) in SR's legacy. Why didn't they go for a Bon Voyage-ish set-up for Spa and Treatment?

(Sports and Dai Hakken are Variety played straight. She could have made their albums increasingly obnoxious -- turned it up like she turned up MM with Shouso Strip (I wonder if SG sounds truer to Variety than Variety's successors). Instead she streamlined it and we got harmless pop, with tacked-on whimsy for the concerts and promotional stuff.)

Anyway. DOMESTIC Service: The Concert :-X
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Old 2012.06.24, 06:10 PM   #34
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Couldn't have said it better myself, Scribble.

Of course, I don't consider this a sign of DOOM or anything. I just think this is one major mistep that she is going to have to recover from. I thought she was going out after Sports but then she gave us Ultra C and rescued that album.

I'm still optimistic.
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Old 2012.06.24, 06:36 PM   #35
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Oh, well whatever. If you say so.

I just don't see anything here noteworthy bad, as in whatever complaint someone could make, its been complained about before when it comes to Ringo/Jihen.

This is just what she is now, like it or lump it. I see no atrocities being committed here (the really strong distaste for it almost seems like exaggeration/trolling). I don't feel she owes me anything anymore, she has put out 4 of the best albums I have ever heard, which is more than most artists do in their entire career. I also have no problem with her sexing herself up/playing idol either. I like sexy things. Not all idol stuff is bad either.

Is it a perfect performance? No. Do I care? Not really. You may not like what she's doing, but I don't know why you start now, its not like the first time she's pulled the cheese on us (which you know, I can dig). I just think its cool that I can add some more new arrangements into my playlist.

Eh, fuck it. That's the last I'm gonna say on the topic of Bon Voyage. I don't want to get involved in the same cyclical argument that comes around as regularly as PMS.
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Old 2012.06.25, 12:46 AM   #36
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just got my copy yesterday, here are my thoughts after a first listen about some of the highlights (and not-so-highlights):

Ikiru - fantastic way to open the show, I thought it should have opened the Ultra C tour too (never was much a fan of kachi-ikusa). I always wanted them to hear them do Ikiru with an orchestra and my wish came true. I still prefer the Ultra C a tiny bit more, because the piano made it sound more intimate

Atarashii Bunmei-kaika - I was never thrilled about it before this performance, but the orchestra definitely gave it the extra oomph which elevated it into a show highlight

OSCA - I liked the dancers here doing the dance from the PV, but their appearance on other songs was unnecessary and even annoying imo, I wouldn't care so much if their choreography was good, but it was far from it.

Season Sayonara - Saito's violin here was a welcomed addition to a song I didn't care so much about before

Kaitei ni Sukuu Otoko - I really like the new motown-like arrangement with the brass, I loved Ringo with the pink afro. her and the 2 other girls looked liked the Japanese version of The Supremes lol.

Kai Horror Dust - I didn't liked that song on color bars at all, but here it was really fun, mainly because of Izawa's visual-kei attire. it was nice seeing Ringo on the piano too.

Honto no Tokoro - I loved the color bars ver. and I loved it even more here, it was nice seeing Ringo rocking the drums with a pink afro

sa_i_ta - I was a bit disappointed by this one actually. the additional effects were nice but I felt Ringo was quite bored singing it and her vocals sounded a bit weak. I prefer the studio ver.

Zettai Zetsumei - the idea of remaking this song as electro disco with orchestra was great, but sadly the result was not so great. the electro backing track itself was quite boring and Izawa's piano was clearly missing. I also felt Ringo's vocals got buried by the orchestra and even clashed a few times with the backing track. I liked Ringo's Vogue dance but the other dancers were clearly unnecessary

Ice Cream song - it's Bon Voyage's JCHI Service, only without Ringo to save it

Oishii Kisetsu - that's the only Chiaki song I liked in it's original version, but of course SR sang it much better, loved the orchestra in it, I loved Ringo's red dress, the boys looked fab too

Onna no ko - finally we get to hear this song with a live orchestra, I liked how when she got to the english part her vocals became a lot stronger

Omatsuri Sawagi - similar to EXPO's version, but this time Ukigumo decided to use a nylon guitar instead, good choice

Tengoku (for the tube) - the better version of Tengoku, I loved the James Bond-like orchestral arrangement, a show highlight for me

Time Capsule - I was quite disappointed by this one, I would prefer if they played it like the studio ver. without drums, I don't think Hata would refuse a little break to take more pictures. Ringo's vocals were also a bit harsh here

Killer Tune - loved the brass

Sora ga natteiru - why did they had to play it again? they already looked bored playing it in the Discovery tour

Gunjou Biyori - I was never a big fan of this song but that was a good version

Seishun no Matataki - best song on Bon Voyage hands down, thank god Ringo decided to sing it herself. I still don't have a clue why she gave it to Chiaki the first time around as it's one of the best ballads she wrote.

Toumei Ningen - I still wish they would've chose a more poignant song to end their last show with like Tegami or Kimaru, but It was still emotional and you could see the sadness on Ringo's face, even though she tried her best to look happy.

overall, this is obviously TJ's best concert visually (though JCHI's artiness comes close), I only think the dancers were unnecessary. musically though I feel the show could have been better if they played more songs from Adult and Kyouiku (I would love to hear Blackout with the orchestra again for example) and less from Sports
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Old 2012.06.25, 07:18 AM   #37
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Some of the songs were a little disappointing. Like in season sayonara, Saito Neko was torturing his violin and bow just to match the loudness of the band even the bow hair came off. But still it wasn't loud enough and was covered by the rest of the instruments so even though Saito neko was there, I had to strain my ears just to hear him, except for the wonderful solo part. I wonder why they just couldn't amplify the sound of his violin...? It would definitely make a big change to the song.

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Old 2012.06.25, 10:16 AM   #38
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Originally Posted by W3iHong View Post
I wonder why they just couldn't amplify the sound of his violin...? It would definitely make a big change to the song.
I wonder that about every one of the DVD concerts. Sometimes I think it's just my system, but maybe they just don't do enough mixing-----or any mixing.
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Old 2012.06.25, 11:16 AM   #39
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I also think Ringo's vocals were a bit too low in the mix on this DVD
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Old 2012.06.29, 09:07 AM   #40
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Wow, this was far closer to going out with a whimper than with a bang. The mix was terrible, the orchestra rarely fit in and Ukigumo's vocals ruined Omatsuri Sawagi. Seriously, who the hell thought it would be a good idea to have Ukigumo sing 80% of Omatsuri Sawagi? On the plus side, Zettai Zetsumei was awesome. A nice upgrade over the original ala the Zazen verion of Tsumiki Asobi.

Ultra C remains top of the class for Phase 2 performances. I think I prefer Discovery over Bon Voyage as well.
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