Written By Eddie Midler Featured In Ticket Magazine

As I walked up to the State Theatre in St. Petersburg, the line was very very long, which gave me a sense of what I was about to witness. Boyce Avenue has a worldwide fan-base, but they’re much less well-known in the US. I didn’t know what to expect. Then, as I entered the theater an saw the crowds inside, an adrenaline rush came upon me. The show was standing room only and the reaction of the audience — some dancing, singing along, claps of applause and all the whoohoo’s — was contagious.

It’s been a big leap for the three Manzano brothers, Sarasotans and Pine View grads, who started their music career posting YouTube video performances of cover songs from musicians like Rihanna, Cold Play, Tracy Chapman and many others. A few years later, their band was a worldwide sensation, marketing and promoting themselves without the help of the mainstream media or record labels. Sarasota band Paper Airplanes — featuring James Hope on bass and singer Patrick Carroll — opened for Boyce Avenue. They played mostly Originals and the crowd attempted to sing along to many well know songs cover tunes, most of the crowd, however, were barely holding it together.

Boyce Avenue's Alejandro Manzano

Talk to any Sarasota Boyce Avenue fans who found themselves at State Theatre on Friday night and they would all say that it’s about time. “We have been biting our nails and praying for this night for a very long time,”  a couple of very giggly and enthusiastic girls told me. At this, Boyce Avenue’s very first almost-hometown show ever (they’ve never played Sarasota), the Manzano brothers had the audience mesmerized and anxiously wanting for more.

Boyce Avenue performed many of the covers that have helped them rise to Youtube stardom, songs like Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” and Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida”, all with a tri-acoustic sound and vocals that many in the audience joined in on. After that, the boys broke into “Briane” —  an original song off the new, original and self-produced album “All We Have Left” — a sad and personal tale about a friend taking her own life.

Boyce Avenue

Screaming girls yelled out “I Love you Daniel,” “I want to have your babies,” and some comments that require censoring. (Sadly for them, Daniel is happily married with two children.) The band couldn’t offer them any of that, but otherwise the show was everything the fans could expect, from the colorful Boyce Avenue banner behind the stage to the quality of sound and lighting.

Given VIP access to the band backstage, I was able to briefly talk to the brothers. It felt like chit-chat between friends, as comfortable as a homecoming should be.