It’s official - the Youtube popstar phenomenon has hit the Malaysian ground. KL city was flooded with fans who came to watch their favourite Youtube singing trio; Boyce Avenue perform live at the KL Live Centre. The hunky boys were in town for their Asia Tour 2015.
The name Boyce Avenue derives from the combination of two streets the brothers have lived on throughout their childhood. Known for covering famous hits on their Youtube channel, the three piece band formed by talented brothers Alejandro Luis Manzano (lead vocals, piano, guitar), Daniel Enrique Manzano (bass, percussion and vocals) and Fabian Rafael Manzano (guitar and vocals) have more than a whopping 6 million subscribers on their Youtube account. It’s no wonder they have established a huge fan base in Malaysia.
It’s also not a secret that their success is due to their video uploads on their Youtube channel which have managed to attract millions of viewers. Take a look back at their Youtube channel and you can view their first video uploaded about seven years ago, showcasing Alejandro singing an acoustic cover of Goo Goo Dolls’ hit song Before It’s Too Late. Albeit the video quality was not fairly good, Alejandro’s pure voice still stands out against the strumming of the guitar. Fast forward seven years later, his voice is still as pure.
Another cover of a hit song ‘Mirror’ by Justin Timberlake also drew more than 68 million viewers. I personally thought it was the best cover of the hit song so far, as they added their own little twist to the song by collaborating with X Factor American girl group Fifth Harmony.
As much as the boys are known for covering hit songs, the band also produces their own original materials.
'''Debut In Malaysia A Hit'''
The band’s debut in Malaysia was not a disappointment to the fans. Before the trio made their appearance on stage, two local Youtube discoveries Narmi and Elizabeth Tan took centre stage and sang a few songs to entertain the crowd. Usually I show no interest to the opening acts, but this time around Narmi and Elizabeth managed to grab my attention. I had my eyes glued to the stage and bopped my head the whole time. I could tell it was the same for the others as well Narmi had everyone sing along to songs like ‘Kau Ilhamku’ by Man Bai, a song every Malaysian knows by heart. They also performed ‘Lucky’ by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat with Elizabeth, which naturally had the crowd swinging their arms side to side. Narmi concluded their performance with a bang while the crowd cheered on and clapped for them as if it was their own concert. It was a nice sight to see for a local act.
Then, the moment everyone was waiting for finally arrived - the Boyce Avenue stole the spotlight with their charming good looks, dressed in a black and white ensemble. Girls (and boys) cheered when they saw the trio walking on stage. The Boyce we’ve been watching on our laptop screens are finally here! Kicking off the show with their own piece ‘Speed Limit’, the band immediately had the crowd moving to the beat as the song had a catchy vibe. You could tell the band was equally excited to see Malaysian fans as much as Malaysian fans were excited to see them. The band then continued serenade the audience with songs like Hear Me Now, Find Me, written by the band members themselves.
Things started to heat up a bit when Alejandro started to belt out tunes to the famous hit song ‘Teenage Dream’ by Katy Perry. The band improvised the song by slowing down the tempo in the beginning, but had everyone dancing as soon as the song started to lean towards the chorus. Who doesn’t love a good ol’ Katy Perry song?
I thoroughly enjoyed their own renditions of hit songs like Wake Me Up by Avicii, Story of My Life by One Direction, Fast Car by Tracy Chapman, Locked Out of Heaven by Bruno Mars and even Because of You by Ne-Yo. Although their cover songs were more of a hit among the crowd compared to their own masterpieces, the band seemed to enjoy every bit of the audience’s energy. I was impressed by the band’s energetic vibe that sustained for a solid two hours. Alejandro and his brothers showed no sign of slowing down and seemed purely ecstatic to be performing in Malaysia.
If there’s one thing I vividly remembered that night is the band's performance of Coldplay’s famous song ‘Fix You.’ The lights illuminating the stage accompanying Alejandro’s heartwarming voice swept the audience off their feet, especially the girls.
As the night closed in, the brothers were ready to bid goodbye to KL fans, but the audience would not have it. As expected, the crowd demanded for an encore after their supposedly last song. The band came out to perform a few more songs like Use Somebody by Kings of Leon, Every Breath, Broken Angel before they waved goodbye for good - or at least until they come back for a second visit (I hope!).
