A Weekend With Boyce Avenue, Part Two: Vancouver, B.C.

My weekend with Boyce Avenue didn't end in Seattle....the next day, I made the 3-hour drive up to Vancouver, B.C. with my friend Monica to see them again. This was my first time to ever visit Canada....even as a kid, growing up in upstate New York, my adventures had never taken me into Canada. I was so excited that my first time there was for such an occasion. :)

Click on the "Read more..." link below for my recap of the day and my review of the second show on Boyce Avenue's 2011 US/Canada Fall Tour.




The Drive North

So, my car is an advertisement for Boyce Avenue....after seeing the guys perform two nights in a row at The Vera Project in Seattle back in February, I decided to "boyce" my car in an effort to promote the guys. Custom decals on the window and a personalized lisence plate - inspired by my favorite Boyce Avenue original song - and the Boycemobile was born.  Naturally, I offered to drive.  :)

The Boycemobile

Here's a fun fact: Monica agreed to go with me to see Boyce Avenue in Vancouver and agreed to paying the extra $35.00 for a pre-show VIP Meet & Greet without ever listening to a single Boyce Avenue song. Over the last couple of months, every time I asked her, "Have you listened to them yet??" she would sheepishly respond, "No, but I promise, I will before we go see them." On the way up, she informed me that she had listened to them for the first time only the day before, so she was going into the day and evening knowing very little about what she was about to experience. That's a true friend!! On the drive up, I told her the Boyce Avenue story....how they got started, where they've been, and what they've accomplished as a band....basically, I gushed about them a lot.  And of course, we listened to their music. She seemed excited to see them, and I was so ready to introduce her to the guys and let them work their magic on her.

The Boycemobile got the attention of some people on the freeway just north of Seattle, who drove up next to us honking and screaming, "WOOHOO!! BOYCE AVENUE!! YEAH!!"  It was pretty cool.

We made our way across the border into Canada and headed then into downtown Vancouver to find the venue and parking.  I noticed a Mustang in my rearview mirror with a familiar face behind the wheel....Curtis Peoples, one of Boyce Avenue's opening acts, driving into town in the rental car he had spoken so highly of the night before in Seattle.  I had spoken briefly to Curtis after the Seattle show and told him I was part of Boyce Avenue's Street Team, and mentioned that we'd be up in Vancouver the next night, so when I saw him sitting behind us in traffic, I rolled my window down and waved at him.  He grinned and waved back, then passed us and gave us a thumbs up.  Not gonna lie....I totally went into fangirl mode over the entire thing.

Before The Show

We found a public parking garage about a half a block from the venue (again with Curtis following right behind us) just 15 minutes before we had to check in for the Meet & Greet.  We stopped for a quick slice of Pizza before getting in line.  While waiting, we struck up a conversation with a girl named Sarah and her dad, Jay standing in line ahead of us.  When we told them we had driven up from Seattle, he said, "Oh, you really like these guys, then, eh?" and I said, "Yeah, you could say that."  My Boyce Avenue obsession quickly became the topic of conversation, and somehow my car came up.  Sarah's dad said to me, "Oh, is your car the one with the website and the words GET BOYCED in the rear window?"

"YES!!" I replied, surprised and a little confused. "How did you know that?!"

He laughed and said, "We saw you drive by a little while ago.  Everyone in line got excited...they thought you were the band!!"  Hahaha, so awesome.  We had a good laugh together about that, and then he said, "Wow...that's your car....you really are a hard core fan, eh?"  We had a good laugh about that, too.

The VIP Meet & Greet

When it was time to go in for the Meet & Greet, we made our way into the lobby, got our posters and lanyards, and got in line to talk to the guys.  While we were standing there waiting, out walked Curtis Peoples.

"Curtis...." I said, "Are you following me?"  He said, "Hey!! What's up?" and gave me a hug, and then he said, "You know what's funny? I knew as soon as I saw the car I knew that it had to be you!"  We talked for a minute and joked around about how poorly the Seattle crowd performed their T-Pain HEY's, and I told him that I hoped Vancouver would do a better job.  He said he did too, and I said, "Well, just tell them how bad Seattle sucked and tell them they have to do better!!"  He laughed and said, "I'll do that....good idea!"

One of the staff members at the Vogue offered to take a picture of Monica and I while we waited.  He was so nice, and super friendly.....a polar opposite of the thugs I had dealt with the night before in Seattle at the Showbox.  The entire vibe was different.  The atmosphere was very relaxed, which is kind of what you'd expect at a Boyce Avenue show.

Me and Monica before the show

The guys were just finishing up with the people in front of us.  Alejandro saw me and gave me a little head nod....I cannot put into words how awesome it is to be recognized by the guys.  When you work hard to support them, and they recognize you at their shows, it makes it all worth it....the miles you walk, the time and money you spend....they really do know who their hardcore fans are.  I try very hard to be cool, calm and collected around them, but the truth is, I get a little starstruck every time I talk to them.  They're so good at putting you at ease right away, though.  When it came time to talk to them, they greeted me with smiles and warm hugs and we joked about how it felt like we had just seen each other.  I introduced them to Monica and told them that she had agreed to come up and see them with me without ever having listened to their music.  They were really gracious and thanked her for her support, and she told them it was all me, that I never stopped talking about them.  She told them they need to hire me to do their PR.  They laughed and one of them said something like, "You think so? Hmmm...." I think it was Daniel, but I don't know for sure.  I told them about all the attention the Boycemobile had gotten on the drive up, and how the people standing in line outside thought it was them when we drove by. They seemed to get a kick out of that.  I had made them necklaces, because Fabian had seemed to really like mine when he saw it in Seattle.  Daniel put his on right away, and said it matched his shirt.  :)

After another minute of chit chatting, we got one more round of hugs and said our goodbyes.  Monica was very impressed with them, saying how nice they were....and I knew by the end of the night she'd be completely Boyced.  :)  A few minutes later, we were allowed entry into the theater.

Inside the Vogue Theater - Photo by Jason Payne

The Vogue Theater is amazing. I love old theaters like this.  Everything about it is just cool. The history, the architecture, the atmosphere, all of it. As soon as we walked in, I knew it was gonna be a great show. There were quite a few people in the theater already, but they were all sitting. So I went up to a security dude and said, "Can we stand right up at the stage?" and he said, "Sure...go ahead."

WIN.  We claimed our spots in the front row, just off center stage, and waited for the show to start.

The Show

Let me just put this out there right off the bat....a great venue with a great staff makes the entire concert experience so much better. Not only was the staff SO much nicer than the staff at the Showbox in Seattle, but the sound in the Vogue was incredible!! This place has unbelievable acoustics....as soon as Megan Nicole hit the stage and started singing, I could hear the difference, and it made me even more excited for Boyce Avenue to come out.

Megan Nicole did an awesome job getting the crowd warmed up. She seemed a lot more comfortable on stage than she had the night before, and looked adorable in a gold sequin dress and combat boots. :)

Megan Nicole

 Curtis Peoples was just as awesome as he had been the night before. He made fun of Seattle and their lack of rhythm. He said something along the lines of, "Does Vancouver have more rhythm than Seattle does? Because I gotta tell ya....Seattle has about as much rhythm as somebody's really white uncle...." Pahaha!! Vancouver delivered with perfectly timed "T-Pain Hey's" during Everybody Loves You.

Curtis Peoples

As Curtis wrapped up his set, and Boyce Avenue's crew came out to prepare the stage for the guys, the energy in the Vogue theater was palpable.  Since I had just seen the guys the night before, I knew how the show would open.  I'm not really sure what is used to create the "hum" as the lights dim.....a synthesizer, maybe....but as soon as it started, the crowd went absolutely nuts.  The feeling you get at that moment is hard to describe.  It's a very cool thing to experience.  One thing is certain....these shows felt bigger than the previous Boyce Avenue shows I have seen.  It made me feel so proud of them, of all they have accomplished.

The stage is set.....

The show was incredible. The setlist was the same....everything off of All We Have Left and several covers....an acoustic set....the Cajon battle between Alejandro and Daniel....but it didn't make it any less exciting. I swear, I could follow these guys across the country and see them in every city they play, and it wouldn't get old.

At one point Alejandro made eye contact with me and gave me a smile and a head nod. As a fan, there is no way to describe how special that is. Another fun moment for me was making eye contact with drummer Jason Burrows....he stuck his tongue out at me and then gave me a big grin. :)

Jason Burrows tearin' it up on the drums

Boyce Avenue never fails to express their appreciation to their fans. When Alejandro introduced himself and his brothers, he said, "I'm Alejandro....this is my brother Fabian, and my brother Daniel....and together, with all of you, we are Boyce Avenue." A little later, he thanked everyone for their support, saying, "Because of you guys sharing our videos with your friends on Facebook and twitter, and without any television or radio airplay, we're able to keep coming out and doing what we love to do, and every time we come out we get to play to bigger crowds in bigger venues."

"We owe it all to you guys," he said, "So...thank you, so much, for all your support."

Alejandro expressing his thanks to the fans

As the show ended, I turned to my friend Monica and said, "So....?"

"Oh, my gosh!!" she said. "They were so good! I loved them!"

"So, the next time they come out, you wanna go with me?" I asked her, to which she enthusiastically replied, "Umm....YES!!"

Yeah. She's been Boyced. Big time. :)

After The Show

After the show, we hung around for awhile, hoping the guys would come out to meet the fans, but they didn't.  We did get a chance to talk to Curtis Peoples one more time, though, and we got some fun pics with him.

All the way back to Seattle, we listened to Boyce Avenue (at Monica's request) and arrived safely home about 3:00 AM.  I had so much fun, and would not hesitate to make the trip up to Vancouver to see them again.  In fact, the next time they come out, I have every intention of driving up to Vancouver a few weeks beforehand and doing some Street Teaming.

A Few More Pics From The Show

I took so many pictures at the Vancouver show....here are a few of my favorites.

It was an amazing weekend, leaving me an even bigger fan than I was before it started, which I really didn't think was possible. I'm already looking forward to Boyce Avenue's next tour....hopefully in the Spring of 2012.