Wild Life (concert)

Wild Life
Concert by Hikaru Utada
DVD cover
Associated albumUtada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 2
Start dateDecember 8, 2010
End dateDecember 9, 2010
Legs1
No. of shows2 in Japan
Hikaru Utada concert chronology

Wild Life was Japanese-American singer-songwriter Hikaru Utada's final concert tour before her scheduled hiatus from 2011. Utada performed only two dates at the Yokohama Arena, Japan on December 8 and 9, 2010.

Tickets

Tickets were initially going to be distributed through purchases of the limited first-press issues of the album supporting the tour, Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 2, with people being told to visit a website to enter the draw, but this idea was later scrapped. Instead, the codes received in the album are now for a website in which people can view the show on demand, watch a special movie (which later turned out to be a "Making of" featurette about the making of the Goodbye Happiness music video), view pictures from the concerts, as well as sign up for a special gift of the week.[1] The site went live on January 13, 2011.

Concert

Tickets to the show were sold in a "lottery"-style fashion, similar to that of previous Hikaru Utada concerts (not counting Utada: In the Flesh 2010) with each ticket costing ¥6,000.[2] The concert took place at Yokohama Arena, featuring a round stage, with instrument players behind a perspex glass wall. Utada dropped from the top of the stage on a platform after the opening was shown. The stage was set out in a 360-degree fashion, with the audience sat all around Utada.

Footage

The December 8 show of Wild Life was filmed and broadcast to 64 cinemas in Japan, and streamed free on the live streaming website Ustream.tv, with two channels set up. There was a total access of 925,000, with 345,000 of those being unique viewers, as well as around 185,000 comments left in the chat feed. This was a global record for Ustream, for the highest number of simultaneous access of any video they've previously shown on the site, with the previous record being only 100,000.[3]

DVD release

On February 3, 2011, Teruzane Utada posted on Twitter that he was going to "the first meeting" regarding the DVD release of the Wild Life concerts.[4] He then stated in a later Tweet that he was planning on releasing Wild Life and Utada: In The Flesh 2010 as a DVD bundle set.[5] Wild Life was planned for release on both DVD and Blu-ray formats on April 6, 2011. The DVD version features two discs, the first containing the show itself, and the second featuring a photo gallery with pictures taken by Kenji Miura, some never before seen audience interactions during the shows, as well as a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the concert (from rehearsals to after the final show). The Blu-ray version has both the concert and special features on one disc.[6] On March 24, 2011, Utada Tweeted that both the DVD and Blu-ray release of Wild Life have been postponed, due to the earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan, damaging the pressing factories. The DVD version was released on April 20, 2011, with the Blu-ray release under a month later on 18 May.[7]

In Taiwan, the DVD format of Wild Life was planned for release locally by Gold Typhoon, an entertainment company launched with the support of EMI, on May 3, 2011.[8] The Taiwanese DVD version will include two discs, featuring the same features as the Japanese version, in addition with "hidden style" Traditional Chinese subtitles provided. The Blu-ray version is imported from Japan by the label. On May 19, 2011, a day before the DVD releases, Gold Typhoon announced on its blog site that "the Taiwanese version of Wild Life will be postponed, due to the copyright issue of the songs in concerts."[9] On May 30, 2011, Gold Typhoon confirmed the Taiwanese DVD version of Wild Life with a revised release date of June 3, 2011, on both the Special Blog Sites and Official Website.[8][10] On June 2, 2011, Utada's staff tweeted both locally release dates of the DVD in Taiwan and Hong Kong: "Utada Hikaru's new live DVD "Wild Life" will be released in Taiwan (June 3rd) and HK (June 10th) locally."[11]

Set list

  1. "Intro (Kuma Spaceship Video)"
  2. "Goodbye Happiness"
  3. "Traveling"
  4. "Take 5"
  5. "Prisoner of Love"
  6. "Colors"
  7. "Letters"
  8. "Hymne à l'amour (Ai no Anthem)" (A "stripped down" performance, with only a piano accompanying Utada's vocals)
  9. "Sakura Drops" (Performed on the piano by Utada)
  10. "Eclipse (Interlude)" (Synthesizer solo performances from band members while Utada goes through a costume change)
  11. "Passion" (Used the Kingdom Hearts II bridge)
  12. "Blue"
  13. "Show Me Love (Not a Dream)"
  14. "Stay Gold" (Performed on the piano by Utada)
  15. "Boku wa Kuma"
  16. "Automatic"
  17. "First Love" (Performed on the piano by Utada)
  18. "Flavor of Life (Ballad Version)"
  19. "Beautiful World"
  20. "Hikari"
  21. "Nijiiro Bus"
Encore
  1. "Across the Universe" (The Beatles cover, also featured Utada playing the guitar)
  2. "Can't Wait 'Til Christmas"
  3. "Time Will Tell"

Show dates

Date City Country Venue Attendance
December 8, 2010 Yokohama Japan Yokohama Arena 34,000
December 9, 2010

References

  1. ^ "Hikki's WEBSITE". Emimusic.jp. Retrieved August 30, 2012.
  2. ^ "e+ イープラス チケット". W1.onlineticket.jp. Retrieved August 30, 2012.
  3. ^ "宇多田ヒカル : 宇多田ヒカルコンサートUstream中継、同時視聴者数で世界記録達成 | RBB TODAY (エンタメ、音楽のニュース)". Rbb Today. December 10, 2010. Retrieved August 30, 2012.
  4. ^ u3music [@u3music] (February 2, 2011). "おはよう!今日はWL DVDの第一回打ち合わせ。さてどうなるかな。teruzane" (Tweet) – via Twitter.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ u3music [@u3music] (January 31, 2011). "Yes, that is what I am trying by spring!!RT "@edu_says: @u3music are we getting a Wild Life DVD release as well as one for In The Flesh?"" (Tweet) – via Twitter.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "Hikki's WEBSITE". Emimusic.jp. December 8, 2010. Retrieved August 30, 2012.
  7. ^ 宇多田ヒカル [@utadahikaru] (March 24, 2011). ""WILD LIFE" concert DVD/Blu-ray release has been postponed to 4/20 (DVD) and 5/18(BR) due to earthquake damage to the pressing factories" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  8. ^ a b [1] Archived April 2, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ ".5/20 宇多田《WILD LIFE》延發通知。 @ 金牌大風東洋音樂官方部落格 :: 痞客邦 PIXNET ::". Emijpop.pixnet.net. Retrieved August 30, 2012.
  10. ^ ".東洋天后宇多田最新影像作品《WILD LIFE》.6/3待望上市! @ 金牌大風東洋音樂官方部落格 :: 痞客邦 PIXNET ::". Emijpop.pixnet.net. May 31, 2011. Retrieved August 30, 2012.
  11. ^ 宇多田ヒカルSTAFF [@hikki_staff] (June 2, 2011). "Utada Hikaru's new live DVD "WILD LIFE" will be released in Taiwan (June 3rd) and HK (June 10th) locally. #UH_WL" (Tweet) – via Twitter.