Read it here:
http://www.theaquarian.com/2010/03/03/utada-the-fillmore-at-irving-plaza/

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"plain awful"??? wtf !
Hikki was amazing live. AND exodus wasnt a fail. I loved the album personally...a bit more so than Tito even. XD
This review is too one sided and ignores some of the great things about her live shows.

Quote:Yeah, I know I commented on the page so people would know how wrong that review is... I mean the girl didn't write even one good thing about the show.

He or she (the reviewer) is right about how most of her fans discover her through her Japanese music or KH's theme songs. Other than that, she's mostly wrong. I'm assuming it's a she because "Victoria". I did not have the opportunity to attend the live shows but I've watched every single recording of In the Flesh that has been posted on Youtube, I swear. I checked YT on a daily basis during In the Flesh tour because of my sheer excitement and jealousy. Like most Utada fans out there, I've also downloaded the full audio records of the show. Yes, Utada had pitching difficulties but it wasn't awful. Okay, she's referring to the mixes, what kind of mixes exactly? Live renditions of the songs? To me, YMMWTBAM sounded fine. Besides, was she the happiest when she did Automatic? I'm not so sure but according to my notion, I'd say she was REALLY ENJOYING it during Me Muero.

Regarding being disconnecting during the MC thing, I guess she's the minority who felt less connected because from most of the experiences I've read, fans have said how intimate the concert feel. There were sufficient interaction between Utada and the fans. True that there were awkward moments during the NYC show because she didn't have much to say but still the fans were comfortable and in fact, very very enthusiastic.

Haha, she did write something good about Automatic.

I've heard/saw NY concert on the web, but saw Utada in London and I think by "awful mixes" author meant that the instruments were too loud. Well, they were loud and when the the bang was giving their all they were louder than Hikki (it happened twice during the concert) but c'mon, to call it awful is just wrong.
And did you noticed no TITO song was mentioned? It makes you wonder if the reviewer heard the album that was promoted by the show (conspiracy theory ftw). She didn't say anything about how some songs were re-arranged to sound more rockish (A&C, DD). Oh, and the sole fact that Utada was throwing autographed balls with her own drawings should be noticed as a plus because not many artists do that for their fans.

Blah~, my complains could go on ("and on and on" lol) but the major problem in this review is that it has negative point of view. It leaves an impression that Utada made two weak and embarrassing to listen albums that didn't sell, then made pointless tour that was executed badly, included track list that didn't make sense either, where she didn't know how to connect with the crowd making it boring or uncomfortable for listeners and most of the time she singed poorly live (but she sounded slightly better in NYC) and the conclusion is that she's a j-pop singer that should stick with j-pop cause that's what's bringing her and her fans the most joy, hallelujah. So once again

This is the most ridiculous review I have ever read! I'm going to go through each of the main points and point out where they are wrong.

"Yet it?s doubtful many?if any?of the attendees got hooked on Utada through her English albums. Most were fans of her J-pop first and foremost."

We live in the 21st century. This means that the main way to get "hooked" on a musician is through the internet(does the word itunes ring a bell?). 2nd way is through radio( which Utada is doing well on dance and club charts and has appeared on many radio shows) 3rd way is on guest TV appearances (Ryan Seacrest show etc.) Main point is, you don't have a concert at a small venue to get people "hooked" on your music. Her argument isn't valid. It doesn't pertain to the subject.

"She retained the animatronic stage presence of her stadium performances, which is passable when it?s buttressed by pop spectacle but came off disconnected in a venue that demanded intimacy."

"Animatronic"!!??? Like Chuck-E-Cheese mouse robots!!??? REALLY!!!??? The only robot I saw at the concert was the "jabawokees" masked guy during Rizzo's performance :).

""She responded to audience shout-outs nervously, half-jokingly telling a boisterous fan to ?stop talking.? During her MCs, she rambled about having nothing to say, expressed surprised at seeing racially diverse audiences on previous tour stops and compared her New York City turnout to a Whole Foods supermarket, sending them into uncomfortable laughter.""

Maybe she was off her game at NY, but in Chicago she engaged the audience with respect and a good sense of humor. During the breaks she talked about Chicago, what she did, and asked the audience about a painting(I'm tempted to rerelease my .wav of it and send it to Victoria to prove her wrong. Hopefully venting this will prevent me). She was extremely intimate and went out of her way to not be offensive.(When someone screamed marry me in Japanese, she said I'm flattered but not exactly sure i can make that kind of commitment on the first night).

"Utada has dismissed Exodus as a misstep, so only four songs made it to ?In The Flesh.?"

Do you read a lot of Nietzsche? There are these things called logical steps that he assumes and goes from "mountaintop to mountaintop." You can only do this if you have already answered the assumptions with the logic previously implied. If Utada had dismissed Exodus as a misstep, then why would she have ANY songs from it in the tour? Considering how many English songs she has, and considering how many of the songs on the tour were English, I'd say 4 songs is a fairly high percentage. Why would she devote that much of her concert to those songs if Exodus was a "misstep"? Taking another extreme, if U2 didn't sing any of their songs from War at a concert, does that mean they consider their album War a "misstep." There is no way of knowing that she considers Exodus a "misstep" based on the information given.This is known as slander when you misrepresent a person for personal gain(writing a crap article to pay the bills).

"But the mixes were plain awful. The drums and prerecorded background vocals were too loud, giving the concert a karaoke feel. During ?You Make Me Want To Be A Man,? they drowned out the singer herself."

Oy! Where to begin? The acoustics of a small venue are more difficult to control because the sound is closer to the walls meaning more interference and vibrations. That being said, I could still hear her, the prerecorded background, and the music distinctly. It's not like karaoke because the background vocals is a separate pitch than her live singing. Many of her songs have two or more vocal pitches at the same time. Unless you are enlightened like a monk, you can't sing two pitches simultaneously. So if you are performing a concert, you have to pick which pitch you will sing, and which pitch the background will be. Overall she did very well at Chicago. YMMWTBAM was done exactly how it was done in Utada United(to perfection).

"At that moment, ?In The Flesh? became what it should have been all along: a treat for American fans who had been dying to see the J-pop singer live."

Who says it wasn't? You can't assume a purpose of a concert and then criticize it for not being that assumption. That's the same logical fallacy as "affirming the antecedent." You need facts to base your opinions on.

Ugh, what a terrible review

What a pretentious f'in b#tch!
She went out of her way to find any little negative thing to write about and did.

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I know!!! Grrrrr.
I now officially hate the writer.

I suggest everyone write a response commenting on the reviewer's ignorance and basic lack of taste in music. ;D

I already did. :3