LIVE GRACE/LIVE UNION Discussion Thread

[Sai]

I haven't had a chance to watch either yet, but I've got 'em downloaded. For those who have watched, what did you think? Favourite performances? Least favourite? Anything shocking or unexpected or different? More of the same ol' epicness? :XD Discuss!

[sevenpetals]

Grace > Union by a long short.. some favorite performances were Replay Machine.. Risouron, Avalon no Oukan, and Koi no Yokushiryoku... They were all redone so well and amazing, ESPECAILLY REPLAY MACHINE!! a bit disappointed with the vocals on Hoshizuku Symphony, but im sure there will be another chance for it.. Same with Kiseki no Melodia.

Union, unfortunately her worst song she sang (which is still realy good admittedly haha) was Jiku Sapphire. It wasnt because she didnt hit notes, but because her vocal quality on the studio version has more of an anime-like voice, it didnt seem to fit as well raw. Its usually a reverse effect lol.
However, Hoshizora to Tsuki to Hanabi no Shita was tear-inducing :3 Probably her best performance of that song ever!! Favorites from Union were Zettou: Ame no Habakiri, Hoshizora, Fearless Hero, Innocent Starter

Nothing too unexpected i believe Graces Opus II may be tied with Tokyo Dome for best vocal performance.. and again, all of this is already like.. worst thing is 7/10 for me, its all amazing, but ive just come to demand a certain more Perfection.. for example, Eternal Blaze is always 10/10 she just sings it so perfectly every time.. same with Innocent Starter!

[Sai]

I can't wait for Hoshizora!! It's one of my favourite Nana ballads of all time, especially for summer. I think what I'm looking forward to most for Union is the general atmosphere of the outdoor stadium. I mean, she was kind of half-way there for her Seibu Dome concerts, and LIVE UNIVERSE was open-air but in a fairly small venue, so seeing Nana out anda bout in a huge outdoor stadium is probably magical.

As for Opus II, I just can't wait for how everything sounds, haha. If it's anything like the first Graces, I'm gonna be listening to MP3 rips from it for months to come. I usually don't wait this long to watch them, but I've been on too much of a Hello! Project kick lately (mostly trying to savour the time I had left with my oshi T__T).

[Sai]

I finally got around to watching LIVE UNION Like I predicted, it really was magical. I mean, it was more or less a typical Nana concert, but it had a great setlist, great costumes, a great stage, and a phenomenal venue!! There was so much energy in the atmosphere, and seeing the sky go from pure blue to sunset to night is one of my favourite things about open-air concerts. Also, though I haven't seen that many, I think this is the only open-air concert from Japan I've seen where there was actually a blue sky, haha.

Really though, 'magical' just about sums it up The perfect thing to watch on a hot summer night. Even the simpler performances of Nana just standing there were made really beautiful by Nana's hair and clothes constantly swaying in the breeze. My favourite performances were 76th Star, chronicle of sky, PARTY! PARTY! (the outfit for that section was one of my favourites, and the fact that it was taking place at sunset made it even more enjoyable <3), BRIGHT STREAM, and Hoshizora (including the instrumental version of it they used in the credits).

Looking at it with less rose-tinted glasses though, yeah, the concert at its core really wasn't anything special and was almost formulaic in how it was executed. But a great venue/stage/atmosphere can do wonders, and I ended up really enjoying it.

[replaymachine]

Can't really choose which one I like more. Grace II's has those memorable stand out performances while Union has the wotagei songs I love to watch over and over again. Probably Grace is a little better just because of those special performances like the harp playing, that mind-blowing Replay Machine arrangement, some personal faves like Risouron, Sabaku no Umi and Innocent Starter. And the MC's seem a little longer too or is it just me?

As for Union, I was especially taken aback by Zettou no Ame (or sumth). I never really paid attention to that song and I wasn't expecting anything but when I watched I didn't know it was that awesome. Maybe it's the Nana live effect ^^;; Some other performances to note: Fearless Hero, Synchrogazer>Next Arcadia with the awesome movie too, Takaramono and Hoshizora. And have I mentioned how PopMa is so awesome live?

[Sai]

Finally watched Grace -Opus II- last night!! I seriously had goosebumps throughout most of it. So many beautiful arrangements! I think it was actually slightly better than the first LIVE GRACE, if only because I felt like the arrangements were much more varied (whereas GRACE, with only a couple exceptions, had the songs all sound as they usually did, just played by a live orchestra).

Some standouts:
Zankou no Gaia - They totally breathed new life into this song. There were so many parts of the composition that came out so much stronger with an orchestra!
Juliet - Same as above, and I loved Nana's vocals here. I'm glad she didn't go for purely cutesy/girly vocals and instead sounded really elegant and lovely.
Replay Machine - Asdhfjksdhgkj. This performance broke my brain with how epic it was. The new arrangement was INCREDIBLE.
Risouron - This performance really made me appreciate this song. I always liked it, but the orchestra made it feel a lot less "thin", if you will, and it was a world of difference.
Hoshikuzu Symphony - I've been ignoring this song a lot lately (since it's, well, summer xD) but this performance just reminded me how gorgeous it is. Definitely one of my favourite tracks from RockNei and I was totally reminded as to why
DISCOTHEQUE - Super cute. The video had more of a story than any of Nana's actual PVs, though :XD
BRAVE PHOENIX - The choir in the back really added to this song in particular. It sounded so gorgeous.
Yume no Tsuzuki - Ahhh <3 It's so hard not to love Nana in this performance. She sounded beautiful and the part where she had to stop and start again was too cute.

Other comments:
- I wasn't a huge fan of the Darling Plastic arrangement - it was good, but it sounded a bit too empty compared to the real thing.
- Also, Lovely Fruit seemed a little out of place. Cute, definitely, but out of place, haha.
- And I still can't believe she passed up the opportunity to do STAR ROAD!
- I didn't realize it until actually watching it, but BRAVE PHOENIX and Pray, which were done right after the other, were the first two Nana songs I ever heard :XD
- I was totally hoping Nana would come out at the end of Jupiter and do a solo version of the Ayaka Hirahara song
- The costumes, save for the white Avalon no Oukan outfit, were honestly pretty bad, haha.
- The concert followed almost the exact same formula as the first! Which would bother me normally, but I was way too entranced in the music <3

So yeah, amazing concert, certainly lived up to my expectations, and I will most likely die if I don't find MP3 rips of it soon xD