It was their fifth time to perform in Manila, but Boyce Avenue’s Philippine Tour in 2016 was certainly, according to them, their biggest yet. The Puerto Rican-American rock band can still do covers of Pop Rock, Power Pop and Alternative Music. They have not only mastered the art of cover songs, but quite possibly they are the king of cover songs. The first cover I heard from them was No Air and I instantly fell in love with it.

Boyce Avenue consists of Alejandro Luis Manzano, Daniel Enrique Manzano and Fabian Rafael Manzano, they started to gain a ton of popularity by posting their covers on YouTube. Currently they have more than eight million subscribers.

They are talented individuals, but it’s Alejandro Manzano’s voice which brings it together. He puts everything he has into every song without missing a single note.

Before the main show, we got two opening acts, Australian pop/rock band, At Sunset and American singer, Savannah Outen. The trio performed their original songs including Every Little Thing, Kiss Me, Tiffany and Forever. Savannah opened her set with an original song called Boys and did an amazing cover of Drake’s Hotline Bling and Justin Bieber’s Sorry.

After a 30-minute break, the three brothers collectively known as Boyce Avenue, walked onstage and started their set with an original song from their new EP, I’ll Be The One. After their first song, Alejandro greeted the crowd and told them that he had always wanted to come back and play in our country. “It’s like our home away from home,” he said.

The biggest applause came when they performed their well-known cover of Hello by Adele and Fast Car by Tracy Chapman. They also performed a few tracks from their upcoming album, The Road Less Traveled such as Imperfect Me, Cinderella and Pick Yourself Back up Again.

For the encore, the brothers didn’t keep their fans waiting for long. After a quick break, Alejandro ran back out to do Love Me Like You Do, Thinking Out Loud and his two brothers came back to perform, Iris. They ended their set with an original song called Anchor. Overall, the entire show was good with amazing sounds and lighting but Boyce Avenue performed most of their own songs. I understand their desire, but I guess I feel that they should stick to what they are great at and not wander from the path that has enabled them to arrive at where they are today.

Special Thanks to Ovation Productions

Written by Ann Cabudsan
Photos by Cent Bernardo