Boyce Avenue thrilled to reconnect with Pinoy fans

Boyce Avenue has frequented Manila as a musical playground and carved out a niche as among the local scene’s popular foreign recording and performing artists. It’s safe to say that their visits have solidified the acoustic band’s connection with Pinoy fans — and the Philippines, as a second home.

Good news is, the band from Florida, composed of brothers Alejandro, Daniel and Fabian Manzano, makes a comeback via the three-city, self-titled pre- and Valentine concert. Since the musical group and its local fans haven’t seen each other in any in-person events for the past two years due to the pandemic, the Boyce Avenue’s upcoming show may be considered a catch-up one that commences on Feb. 11 at the Araneta Coliseum, then continues on Feb. 12 at Cebu’s Waterfront Hotel Ballroom and culminates on Feb. 14 at Davao’s SMX Convention Center.

According to a report, the show marks Boyce Avenue’s 11th visit to the country that began in 2009.

“You’re right, it was February 2009,” said Alejandro about the year Boyce Avenue first performed in the Philippines in a virtual one-on-one, also graced by Daniel and Fabian, with The STAR. “(It) was the very first time that we played (there). We had no idea what to expect. The crowds came out and it was one of the most memorable things in our career for sure, one of the most memorable things that has ever happened in our lives.” Fabian captured that debut experience in footage, recalled Alejandro and added that they “always kept that with us and the gratitude with us every subsequent tour.”

Lead vocalist, Alejandro, who also plays the guitar and piano, found the group’s latest show touching because it happens in February, the love month. “We definitely notice that the Filipinos appreciate romantic lyrics and emotion, and that’s a lot of what we try to bring to the table with our acoustic music is, it kinda focuses on the lyrics and the melody, the sentiment of the song. So, we can’t wait to share that with the Filipino crowd,” said he.

Asked about the value and challenges in recording cover songs and original tunes that Alejandro, Daniel and Fabian are collectively known for, Alejandro said, “I think it could be different, it depends on the group and even what kind of stage you’re in in your career. At the end of the day, we just do music that we’re feeling at the moment. I’ll be honest it’s been several years since we have released original music, but we’re loving doing cover songs at the moment and there’s so much music still, it’s hard to believe ‘coz we’ve done like 300 and 50 cover songs, but there’s still so many songs that we love that we have yet to cover. And we love doing collabs, it’s such a nice experience to be able to collaborate with other musicians. So, I think for us, it’s fun life to do both… I think there’s merit to both and we love doing all of it.”

However, the main core, as Alejandro reflected on, in doing a cover or an original is, “we do like to play it acoustically.” From there, Boyce Avenue is ready and happy to share a musical piece with their fans in venues like a coliseum, hotel ballroom or convention center, if one may add.

Boyce Avenue will also be joined by (from left) Nobita, Adie and The Juans. As for its repertoire, fans can look forward to covers, originals, and new songs, in which the group has not played in the Philippines before.

Photos from artists’ social media pages

“For us, like being able to feel the energy of the crowd is pivotal,” said Daniel of performing abroad, “You know like when you play a show, and it’s like quiet and everybody’s serious and nobody’s like singing, nobody’s smiling, it’s just hard to like, you know, be as inspired and in the Philippines, it has never been an issue or it has never been a problem because everybody seems so happy and so enthusiastic about live music. So, we’re just kind of really excited to see if, after the pandemic, everybody is just like really adapt to be back at shows and be doing what, you know, they didn’t get to do for so long.”

Daniel, who does bass, percussion and vocals, also recalled the group’s show here in 2020. “The Philippines is our last, last place that we got to play right before the pandemic... We were literally there in February and then now, it’s one of the first places that we get to go back to. So, we’re just excited to reconnect and sing with everybody again.”

With Fabian, the band’s guitarist and vocalist, he shared his favorite things when doing shows in Manila and piqued one’s interest by talking about Boyce Avenue’s repertoire this time around.

“My favorite thing is smiling on stage and taking selfies and doing this (gesturing the heart sign),” said he. “(I’m) basically having a good time. That’s my favorite thing about the Philippines — those fun things, to do those fun things. The repertoire is, because it’s been so long since we were there, we have some new songs to play, which are really great.” These will be complemented by covers and new songs, as Fabian shared, “that we have never played in the Philippines before. So, we’re really, really excited to do those for the fans… It’s gonna be a fun night.”

For the Manila, Cebu and Davao gigs, Boyce Avenue will be joined by singer-songwriter Adie and the bands Nobita, and The Juans (only for the Araneta Coliseum performance).

“The fact that the openers are so good is really exciting because whenever I go to a concert, I always love it when the whole night is filled with like multiple talents and artists,” said Fabian. “You know it’s not just the one band, I love it when it’s a full show of multiple artists that are good and when it becomes really something special. Sometimes, I even like to just stand on the side of the stage and watch the openers perform, I think it’s gonna be fun. It’s gonna be a lot of fun.”

Boyce Avenue, on the other hand, had also the chance to share about the trajectory it treads on from this day forward, musical career-wise, during the interview.

“My hope, honestly, is, this is kinda been our hope from day one is longevity,” said Alejandro. “With us, we wanna be consistent and still be around. So, we hope that in 15 years, honestly, we’re still doing the same thing we’re doing today, but just with a lot more gray in our hair.”

For ticket inquiries, visit TicketNet.com.ph and TicketNet outlets (for the Manila show) and SMTickets.com and SM Ticket outlets (for Cebu and Davao). The Boyce Avenue performances are presented by Wilbros Live. Follow the latter via @WilbrosLive on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.