By Francee Fernandez | Photos By Jude Ng
Overwhelmed by their Filipino fans support “Mahal namin kayo!” were the last words of frontman Alejandro Manzano before they ended their first leg of their 5-city Philippine tour at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last February 16, 2016.
American band Boyce Avenue, a band of brothers composed of Alejandro Manzano (lead vocals, guitar, piano), Fabian Manzano (guitar, vocals), and Daniel Manzano (bass, vocals) first visited the country in 2009. According to them, the Philippines was the first country they had a concert tour outside of the United States.
The Be Somebody World Tour marked Boyce Avenue’s fifth concert in the country. Australian pop-rock band At Sunset started the concert energetically with some of their original songs. YouTube sensation Savanna Outen played some great covers and her latest singles.
The crowd went wild when Boyce Avenue emerged on stage. The trio serenaded thousands of their fans with some of their original songs – a mixture of songs from their upcoming album “The Road Less Traveled” slated for release this year and songs from their old albums. As a treat to the Filipino fans, the brothers sang “Imperfect Me,” “Pick Yourself Back Up Again,” “Cinderella,” and “Be Somebody” for the first time.
The night wouldn’t be complete without the signature covers of the Manzano brothers. Their rendition of Oasis’ “Morning Glory” and “Wonderwall” left the crowd in awe followed by “Stitches” by Shawn Mendes, Bruno Mars hit “Locked Out of Heaven,” Adele’s “Hello” and Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car.”
[fvplayer src=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWgqWuJG5Jg”]
The charismatic trio ended the night with more exciting songs, such as “Wake Me Up” by Aviicii, “Use Somebody” by Kings of Leon, “Irish” by Goo Goo Dolls and Alejandro’s mash up of Ellie Goulding’s “Love Me Like You Do” and Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” elicited the loudest cheers from the audience.
The band thanked their Filipino fans for making the night extra special and memorable.
Aside from the Smart Araneta show, the band also performed in Cebu City, Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod, and Baguio City.
Boyce Avenue rose to fame through their covers of classic and contemporary songs on YouTube.
