BACKSTAGE, these new breed of music icons are pretty much like everyone else: They feel nervous right before a performance; they sure know how to have fun; yet, they don’t always get the good girls. Can they be more spontaneous than that? Listen well.

Take a few sound bites from Boyce Avenue, a triumvirate of musicians that instantly rise to fame by remaking pop-alternative genres. Composed of the Manzano brothers, namely Alejandro, Fabian, and Daniel, the group’s revival of Rihanna’s Umbrella garnered 6, 661, 324 followers on Youtube, and is considered as the most successful single among their five album releases.

“Why the song Umbrella?” I inquired.

“So Rhianna would notice him,” laughed bassist Daniel, pointing to lead vocalist Alejandro (a surprising gesture from someone who attended Law school at Harvard, Massachusetts) “Then, she’d call him.”

“And get a date,” I interrupted.

The brothers blurted in laughter.

“Oh, no! That’s supposed to be off-the-record,” Alejandro defended, with a beaming smile. “But seriously, we like the melody. And there’s a hidden sadness to the song that we want to express in our version.”

“When we revive, it doesn’t mean that it’s our favorite song. It could mean that the message is good; the melody is good, and that we like how it’s played,” guitarist Fabian added.

But during their short visit in Cebu for the Musicfest 2010, yesterday, Feb. 6, at the SM North Open Parking Area 2, Rihanna was clearly out of topic. If the word distraction has a positive connotation, the Cebuanas did a good job of it.

“We were here in Cebu last year (February), and we were nervous about coming to the Philippines. But when we arrived, I can’t believe the warm reception from fans.

They are very respectful and supportive.

“And the Cebuanas? They are very beautiful. We want to dedicate our songs to them,” remarked Alejandro, thankful to the fans for patronizing their debut album All You’re Meant To Be, which is on its way to “gold status.”

“Are you watching the concert tomorrow?” asked Daniel. He meant the Musicfest since the conversation happened a day before. “I mean, what song are you looking forward to?”

“Bleeding Love,” I answered.

“Now, we are not going to say anything, but it’s going to be our little surprise. You just have to watch,” he teased.