I was at both concerts and I enjoyed them both. I only decided to go to this year's AX when it was announced that Maaya was going to do a concert. When Kotoko was announced that made it even better - even though I would not have previously called myself a "fan", I really liked her songs from the two Onegai series.
I have to say, the line for the Kotoko concert sucked. Once the available indoor floor space had been used up, they started stacking the line out on the 3rd floor patio. It was a little after noon, so the sun was blazing right overhead and we were standing there for more than an hour. I hadn't thought to bring sunscreen so I ended up with a bit of a burn. There also wasn't enough AX staff on hand to properly police the line. I noticed groups of up to a dozen people arriving shortly before the seating began and joining the line where they had a friend waiting, which is disrespectful of the hundreds of people behind them who showed up earlier and then got burned (both literally and figuratively). Personally, I'm not the type to stand by mutely when it happens immediately in front of me, and I had it dealt with appropriately by AX staff, but I know it was happening all around and it soured my mood.
I agree with a previous poster that the Kotoko concert itself was too loud for the space provided. The bass was drowning out the actual sound of her singing, especially during the first song. I think they must have made some adjustments because it was better after that. While I agree that this was the kind of concert that gets people on their feet, it did make it harder for people farther back to see and hear the stage. This wasn't a concert hall, it was flat convention seating. When people are seated, they are more or less the same height. Once you are standing, that is no longer true. There was a short girl seated ahead of me who couldn't see anything who then stood on her chair, which just made it worse for those behind her. And while the bass filled the room, treble is directional and all coming from the front. There was a noticable difference in the sound of the concert with taller people around you.
People were also pretty rude about the request for no pictures or video cameras. It was announced several times, yet once the show got started, I saw a guy in the row in front of ours pull out a big professional looking video camera and start taping. Again, AX was understaffed and the crowd was pretty rowdy, so he got away with it for awhile, but he was pretty obvious and so he got escorted out eventually. I'm sure that other people managed to avoid getting caught. I later heard from an AX staffer that the lack of respect for the ground rules had upset Kotoko's staff enough where it might just make them decide against doing any more similar US concerts. Way to go, fanboys.
For all my bitching, I still thought it was a great performance by Kotoko, which I really enjoyed. At the end, some of us were screaming and chanting for an encore. I could hardly believe it when I saw at least 1/3 of the crowd exit the room within a minute of her leaving the stage. I remember someone saying the same thing about the L'Arc-en-ciel concert in Boston and I guess it's true... anime fans aren't very familiar with how concerts work. When the band hit the stage again for a final number, the rest of us came forward to fill the space they had vacated. Sweet justice.
I don't have nearly as much to say about the Sakamoto concert. I only wish they had handled the line nearly as smoothly for Kotoko as they did for Maaya. Everyone had colored armbands to denote what seating section they could access. We'd gotten our red armbands Friday morning, which meant we ended up wearing them for almost three days, but it was worth it since we got into line pretty late and yet still ended up only 8 rows from the front.
While we were waiting for things to start, they played music from the Arjuna OST, which has always been one of my favorites. During the concert, she did eight songs, plus an encore - all of the songs were from her Hotchpotch album which Geneon had just released. Being a less energetic concert, there was not very much problem with people standing this time. It was great to actually be able to see her clearly and not have to rely on the video screens. I thought her English was really good, with no cheat sheet that I could see. She really charmed the crowd with her commentary.
At first, I had thought Geneon was only directly sponsoring the Kotoko concert, but it became clear that they were responsible for both of them. All I can say is, way to go Geneon! Hopefully Geneon will release Maaya's second greatest hits album as well and then she'll come back for a second concert and I'll get the chance to hear her sing Hemisphere!
