Gig Review: Boyce Avenue at The Leadmill, Sheffield

On Friday evening, a vocal crowd packed into The Leadmill to witness a great set from the highly acclaimed Boyce Avenue.

The Manzano brothers; Alejandro, 36, Daniel, 41, and Fabian, 38, started their meteoric rise thanks to YouTube, recording their first video in their parents garage in Orlando, Florida in 2007. The brothers soon notched a million subscribers within a year and now have a whopping 14.6 million subscribers with hundreds of millions of views to their name.

In 2014, the band recorded their first original material and have since gone on to have a string of EP and albums, garnering rave reviews. On Friday the band played a 22-song set featuring a mixture of classic covers and original material.

Supporting the brothers was the extremely talented Wakefield singer-songwriter Hannah Trigwell. A YouTube sensation in her own right, Trigwell opened with a stunning rendition of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, instantly gaining a great ovation from the crowd.

A natural conversationalist, Trigwell candidly chatted with the crowd before blowing them away with a mixture of covers and original material. Sam Smith’s Stay With Me was an opportunity for Trigwell to demonstrate her impressive range and sublime vocals.

The Manzano brothers headed out on stage shortly after 9pm and opened up with Hear Me Now from their first album, All We Have Left. Coldplay’s A Sky Full of Stars and Sting’s Every Breath You Take swiftly followed – with the vocal crowd singing and dancing in unison.

Cinderella, a 2016 original, was well-received as was an upbeat medley of Natalie Imbruglia’s Torn and Eagle Eyed Cherry’s Save Tonight.

The crowd were then treated to a first ever playing of The Killers’ Mr Brightside – a near 1,000 capacity crowd all bellowing out the anthem was a sight to behold. The set then took a mellower turn with Ed Sheeran’s Photograph, Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car and The Verve’s Bitter Sweet Symphony – the latter giving guitarist brother Fabian a chance to be lead vocals, impressing the appreciative crowd.

“Sheffield – thank you for being here, you could have been anywhere tonight but you chose to be with us- we will never take that for granted,” frontman Alejandro heartfeltly states. The crowd reciprocates the love with shouts of ‘We love you Boyce” echoing around the room.

The tempo picked up for the latter stages of the main set with Kings of Leon’s Sex on Fire, a song the band have only played live once before.

A three-song encore featured a totally unplugged Wonderwall – no speakers or microphones, just the Manzano brothers’ stunning voices and 1,000 fans collaborating in a memorable moment. Fix You and Goo Goo Dolls’ Iris closed proceedings in a memorable evening.

A band, more than just a cover band – three extremely talented artists who have a special rapport with their dedicated fans.