Boyce Avenue plays ‘biggest’ show in Manila on V-Day

MANILA, Philippines—For Filipino fans of American rock band Boyce Avenue, the group’s February 14 gig at the Smart Araneta Coliseum was the perfect date on a Valentine’s Day. But for the Manzano siblings—Alejandro Luis (vocalist, guitarist), Fabian Rafael (lead guitarist), and Daniel Enrique (guitarist, bassist)—and touring drummer Jason Burrows, it was the biggest show they have played yet since the band rose to fame in 2007.

“This is officially the biggest show we have ever played,” frontman Alejandro told the crowd at the Big Dome, as he recounted the first time they visited the Philippines in 2009.

This is the band’s fourth time to perform in the country.

Boyce Avenue was formed in 2004 but its popularity skyrocketed in 2007 after the brothers from Sarasota, Florida uploaded their own covers of hit tracks by artists Alicia Keys, Linkin Park, Goo Goo Dolls, Justin Timberlake, and Rihanna, among many others, on the video-sharing site YouTube.

The band is currently the most-followed American artist on YouTube with 6.6 million subscribers, surpassing Ariana Grande with 5.9 million, Maroon 5 with 5.8 million, Lady Gaga with 5.5 million, Linkin Park with 4.6 million, and Selena Gomez with 5.4 million subscribers.

V-Day show

Alejandro Luis Manzano of Boyce Avenue sings in front of his Filipino fans during their concert Saturday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. INQUIRER.net

Before Boyce Avenue took the stage to serenade the crowd, Kapamilya talent Tippy Dos Santos opened the show with her own acoustic rendition of Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space,” Sam Smith’s “I’m Not The Only One,” an original track “Dati” which she recorded with fellow Kapamilya talent Sam Concepcion and rapper Quest, Jessie J’s “Price Tag,” and Meghan Trainor’s “Lips Are Movin.”

After Tippy’s set, the show had a 15-minute intermission and then Alejandro, Fabian, and Daniel finally opened the shot with “Speed Limit” and “Teenage Dream.”

While continuously changing gears (guitars) for almost every performance, Boyce Avenue played “Hear Me Now,” “Wake Me Up.” “I Had To Try,” and “Because Of You.”

One lucky fan was given the opportunity to take a ‘Valentine’s selfie’ with the brothers before they performed “Find Me.”

The Big Dome then heard Boyce Avenue’s version of “Story Of My Life,” “Be Somebody,” “Fast Car,” which according to Alejandro is a favorite song of the band, “Locked Out of Heaven,” “One Life,” “Fix You,” and “I’ll Be The One.”

The show supposedly ended with the 17^th song but after the crowd chanted “more! more!” (some even shouted “Alejandro pa more!”), Alejandro came back on stage with a solo performance of a Boyce Avenue original track, “Broken Angel.” And then he called out his brothers for the encore songs “Use Somebody” and “Every Breath.”

Celebrity sightings

Among the prominent celebrities spotted enjoying the Boyce Avenue concert were Kapamilya actors Vice Ganda, Ryan Eigenman, and sibling senators Allan Peter and Pia Cayetano.

Boyce Avenue is playing one more show at the SMX Convention Center in Davao City Sunday night, February 15, before heading to Singapore for another concert.

The Boyce Avenue Live in Manila and Davao concerts were presented by Ovation Productions and FOX International Channels.

RELATED STORY
Boyce Avenue Live in Manila 2015 in photos