The American pop-rock band Boyce Avenue, composed of the Manzano brothers Alejandro Luis, Daniel Enrique, and Fabian Rafael, is coming back after three years.
The Florida-based trio will hold three concerts in the Philippines on Valentine’s Day week organized by Wilbros Live, starting in Manila at the Araneta Coliseum on February 11, 2023.
This will be followed by a show at Cebu’s Waterfront Hotel Ballroom on February 12, 2023, and finally, at Davao's SMX Convention Center on February 14, 2023.
The singing brothers are excited to perform yet again for their Filipino fans, their 11th time since their first concert in the country in 2009.
During a Zoom session with the press on Wednesday, January 25, 2023, the band was asked what has made the Filipino fans special to Boyce Avenue.
Alejandro answered, "I think it's the passion for music."
He expounded, "I think there's a deeper level of the passion there that seems to be kinda interwoven in the Filipino culture to be very romantic culture.
"And that's such a big part of what we do, what we've always loved to do...
"It's to kinda do these acoustic versions that, by nature, are putting more focus on the lyrics and the melody and the emotion of the song.
"And whenever we particularly perform them live, the crowds sing so passionately in the Philippines, especially to the love songs.
"So that's kind of something that's always struck us... at a heightened level in the Philippines is the appreciation for specifically what we do with acoustic music."
Read related story: Vice Ganda attends Manila concert of Boyce Avenue
BOYCE AVENUE IN MANILA
According to Fabian, the group will be introducing something fresh to their performances, not the usual routine that their fans may be expecting.
He said, "I think they can look forward to a Boyce Avenue that I feel like is reinvigorated...
"And kind of, I guess, almost more excited to play live than we ever have been before just because we've taken a little bit of time off because of the pandemic and everything.
"So I think there would be some sort of... like a genuine excitement that, hopefully, they'll feel from us on stage."
And understandably proud of it, Fabian also said, "I think in the last two years, we've become better musicians.
"We've released a lot more videos on YouTube so there are new songs for us to play.
"So, overall, I think it's just gonna be an amazing night. I think we're gonna play some new fun songs.
"I think our sound is gonna be better than it ever has been before just because when we get older, we get more experienced, we become better musicians."
The 38-year-old guitarist was thrilled as well to announce "something special" for their opening act.
He said, "I think this is kind of the most local acts we've ever had to open for us.
"So I think, it's not gonna be just our show but a whole night filled with a bunch of good music. I think it's gonna be a pretty massive, pretty cool event."
Acoustic heartthrob Adie and the 5-piece pop-rock band Nobita will be opening all three concerts of Boyce Avenue in the Philippines.
OPM band The Juans will perform their hits for the Manila leg of the concert tour.
Read related story: "Paraluman" singer na si Adie, alagang-alaga ng managers niyang sina Kean Cipriano at Chynna Ortaleza
TIKTOK ERA
During the virtual press conference, PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) asked how the group has adapted to the ever-changing digital musical landscape.
Recall that they have actually been active since the MySpace era in the mid-2000s before their rise to popularity on YouTube around 2009.
Clearly, they have been aware of the necessity of transformation or reinvention for them to keep going and stay interesting for their fans.
Daniel told PEP.ph, "When we first started, we got used to very quickly rapid changes in technology and social media.
"When we first started, there really wasn't a lot of social media. And then, all of a sudden, the social media king was MySpace and then Facebook.
"And then YouTube came along and so on and so forth.
"So early on, we kind of new that you have to evolve or else you can't really make it in the modern era.
"Fortunately, we made our name and we built our biggest following on YouTube and we do feel that that's the biggest platform for us."
He assured the band has been aware of the importance of presence for their business on all of the relevant social media platforms.
He affirmed, "We have continued to try to be able to post our music on a lot of the other platforms out of an awareness that there's always a different set of eyeballs and ears on these other platforms.
"There are always a lot of younger people that are looking at something else.
"And so, we do have a TikTok. I think we have a million followers on TikTok. We have an Instagram."
Daniel, however, said YouTube will always have a special place in their hearts.
He explained, "I have to say, our heart always comes back to YouTube. It seems to be a platform that really appreciates high-quality musical and video content.
"And we're really kind of geeky and nerdy when it comes to like wanting the music to be amazing, want the videos to look really great.
"And YouTube seems to be the platform for people that want to enjoy that part of what we do."
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