Photo:
The smooth melodies with rough edges of One Tree Hill star Tyler Hilton opens up the sold out Hammersmith Apollo show. Provoking an endless amount of crowd cheers to those listening from the outside it sure seems as if Tyler is the one headlining tonight!
The deep, southern voice of Tyler’s is beautifully bass-like and the simple staging of one young man playing the acoustic guitar seemed flawless. Though it is his first time on these shores the metres of fans that stretch out across the venue prove he has built a deserved recognition for his huge talent. The acoustic set he performs is pieced together by a series of love stories including 'Baby You’re Beautiful', which echoes hauntingly from the stage. If there’s one person in the world that defines enthusiasm and charisma then Tyler has that down to the point. A lot of his fame may be due to his success on the US TV drama show but his flavoursome tones really do stand out tonight.
If Boyce Avenue were once labelled as ‘just a cover band’ then they have surely proved that wrong tonight. The talented, self-taught trio have only recently come off tour with UK boy band One Direction have only permitted two boy band habits to rub off onto Boyce Avenue and that’s the array of confidence and an arena-like stage set but here credit is due. The intensely high standard of music that seamlessly blasts out of the speakers blows away any competition with manufactured artists. Whether it’s a cover or their own material they put their own spin on the music industry.
Boyce Avenue’s Alejandro Manzano tells the audience ‘We don’t have any TV or radio promotions but what we do have is we plug these videos and you guys watch them and pass them around’ this really is the MySpace music story in reality.
The Katy Perry, 'Teenage Dream' cover sets sound levels to an extreme high and the response from the crowd reassure Boyce Avenue that they will be welcomed back any time. The cover mash-up that mixes One Direction’s 'What Makes You Beautiful' with Rihanna’s 'We Found Love' before falling into Taio Cruz’s 'Dynamite' is a massive hit with the 5k crowd. The Florida trio achieve an unbeatable sound level when they come back to do an encore. 'Broken Angel' and fan favourite 'Day Light' leaves closing song Hear Me Now to show off Boyce Avenue’s best attributes.
