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Another date with Boyce Avenue
Boyce Avenue first came to Manila in February 2009. At the time, the Manzano brothers Alejandro, Fabian, and Daniel were only about two years into their YouTube project, a channel where they record themselves singing mostly acoustic covers of popular hits. That show in the Philippines was the first the band did outside of their native US and, with an estimated 25,000 people attending, it was an unequivocal success, signaling the start of the trio playing for packed audiences elsewhere around the globe.
Fast forward seven years and Boyce Avenue were back in town Tuesday night (February 16) to do another show. I first saw them live back in 2010 with American Idol winner Kris Allen and the dance group Jabbawockeez, and then again last year, almost exactly to the day, in the same venue as last night’s show, Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“We always seem to come over around this time,” said Alejandro. They weren’t kidding. Last year’s show happened on Valentine’s Day, which meant a Coliseum-full of mostly lovestruck couples. There were still quite a few of them this time around, but there were also entire barkadas and platonic couples in the crowd. The brothers appeared onstage after two opening acts: Australian pop band At Sunset and YouTube star Savannah Outen. They were joined by longtime drummer and percussionist Jason Burrows.
There was an almost even split between covers and original songs at the show last year, which I appreciated because, unlike so many other so-called artists, they’re making the effort to write their own material and aren’t leaning on their shtick of reinterpreting other people’s songs. As part of the Be Somebody Tour, this year’s concert was no different. Starting off with two originals, “I’ll Be The One,” and “Imperfect Me,” they then launched into an Oasis medley, “What’s The Story (Morning Glory),” and the much more popular “Wonderwall.”
“We missed you Manila,” Alejandro said. “This is like our home away from home.”
The band interspersed their own songs with some of their more popular and recent covers. I particularly liked their take on the Foo Fighters classic “Everlong,” and their live show staple, Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car,” which, along with the Kings of Leon hit “Use Somebody” are the two songs I remember them doing last year, too.
“I swear the Philippines has some of the best singers in the world,” youngest brother Alejandro said at one point, eliciting giggles from the crowd. It doesn’t take a lot to get Pinoy audiences going, and part of the Manzano brothers’ charm is how they are able to convey gratitude and sincerity with just a few choice words. It helped, of course, that they were in their element that night, especially lead vocalist Alejandro, who was affecting and on point throughout the show.
A few other covers that they did that earned excited squeals from the crowd were Shawn Mendes’ “Stitches,” Avicii’s “Wake Me Up,” and their pogi rock take on Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out Of Heaven.” The originals that stuck with me though were “Find Me,” which they said was the first song they ever wrote, “Pick Yourself Back Up Again,” and the new single, “Be Somebody.”
The band brought the house down with a surprise cover of Adele’s megahit “Hello,” which translated very well in Alejandro’s honey-smooth vocals.
“Thank you Manila for being one of the best crowds in the world,” they said at the end of the regular set. “This country and this city mean the world to us.” Somehow, I could feel it wasn’t a platitude and that they really meant it, especially with the consistent show of support Filipinos have showered upon the brothers since they started their music career.
The first encore was Alejandro solo on the acoustic guitar with Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud,” followed by Ellie Goulding’s “Love Me Like You Do.” The rest of the band joined him for a stirring rendition of the Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris.”
“Mahal namin kayo,” Alejandro said simply, to which the reply was eardrum-busting screams. It was pretty much the exact same scene last year, and no doubt, Boyce Avenue love hearing it. No wonder they keep coming back. — BM, GMA News
Paul John Caña is a magazine writer and live music geek. He is also co-founder of libreto.org, an online collective of writers and artists. Email him at pjcana@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter and Instagram @pauljohncana.
