YouTube sensation-turned-mainstream act Boyce Avenue had a delicious Pinoy dinner consisting of lechon, seafood, and balut.

“We're in the Philippines! It was an insane whirlwind day yesterday: 40 hours of travel and then straight into a live tv show performance on GMA7, a press conference with Kris Allen and the Jabbawockeez, a radio show with the Boys Night Out guys (who are hilarious btw) at Magic 89.9, a Music Vee interview, and a bunch of others. We wouldn't have it any other way, baby!”

That was the shoutout Boyce Avenue posted on their Facebook page when they arrived back in the Philippines almost a year to the day they were first here.

That post was soon followed by another entry while the threesome was in Cebu on Feb.4, a trip—according to the status message—highlighted by more meet-and-greets and interviews, and a delicious Pinoy dinner with Kris Allen and his crew where they had “lechon and amazing seafood.” Some of them, Kris and Boyce Avenue’s own Alejandro included, even tried balut!

During the press conference in Manila on Feb. 3 at the Eastwood Mall open grounds, the Manzano brothers—Alejandro (lead vocals, guitar and piano), Fabian (guita, vocals), and Daniel (band, percussion, vocals)—expressed their thanks to their many YouTube followers.

But while 90 million accumulated hits on the popular video sharing site is indeed a great number, there’s nothing like coming out to meet the fans personally, even if they have to cross an ocean to do it.

And true to form, the band says they will “try to do a video of this whole experience,” perhaps one that we will see on their YouTube site soon.

Boyce Avenue’s streaming success has resulted in a debut album, 2008’s “All You’re Meant to Be.” They did share, however, that coming up with videos to post online requires just as much attention as song writing or studio work.

As Alejandro puts it, “[It’s] lots of hours spent, mostly into arranging [the songs].” When they cover songs by female artists, they need to be sure the arrangement suits Alejandro’s voice when he sings them.

The result: interesting acoustic renditions of songs by Rihanna (“Umbrella,” “Disturbia,” “Don’t Stop the Music”), Leona Lewis (“Beeding Love”), Avril Lavigne, Lady Gaga, Alicia Keys, and many others, all of which resonate with music lovers across the web universe.

Their covers run the gamut of “songs that challenge us, whether we are influenced by them or not,” they say.

But one of their most recent efforts is a cover of Michael Jackson’s “Will You Be There,” set to a video montage of the devastation in Haiti. This is the band’s own contribution to the snowballing efforts to help the impoverished nation bounce back from the devastation of last January’s magnitude 7.0 earthquake.

“Melodically, we’ve always been inspired by Michael Jackson,” Alejandro tells the crowd at the press con.

On YouTube, however, he writes: “So, though we knew that any cover of his music would pale in comparison to the original, we were still compelled to give a shoutout to the late great in this time of need, by doing our rendition of one of our favorite songs of his.”

As of early morning on Feb. 5, their Facebook shout out was a thank you to those who watched their video tribute to Haiti and Michael Jackson, and those that supported and donated to their efforts for the Red Cross.

Meanwhile, the celebrity status they enjoy stemming from their online efforts does have its downside. While Alejandro thinks that bad or negative comments to their video posts are “hilarious,” it’s the negativity towards fellow fans that bugs him.

“I don’t mind people hating on us,” Alejandro reveals, alluding that it is somewhat a fan’s job to call them on what they feel they should improve on. “But the negative comments I don’t like are those racist ones, or hating on other people who comment.”

Fabian, however, flat out admits that, “I don’t look at [the comments]. It bothers me.”

On stage and on videos, the boys are all business. At the press con, however, they did share with the gathered media and fans that, while they are not big on practical jokes, the two older brothers did trick their youngest sibling to snorting pepper once, when they were much younger.

“He was sneezing for ten minutes,” they laugh.

Fortunately for Alejandro, there isn’t a video clip of that…so let’s stick to the music, shall we?

Catch Boyce Avenue with Kris Allen, Jabbawockeez, and Boyce Avenue on Feb. 5, 8 p.m. at the SM Cebu North Open Parking 2 and on Feb. 6, 2010, 8 p.m. at the McKinley Hill Open Grounds.

For Cebu tickets, call Ticketworld at 255-4041. For Manila tickets, call 891-9999.