"That's not New Edition," my company protested when she noticed Bobby Brown and Michael Bivins were missing when New Edition hit the Molson Amphitheatre stage last night...

And you couldn't blame her for feeling ripped off... It's like getting all hyped to see The Who, getting to the venue, then finding out you wouldn't have the pleasure of seeing Pete Townshend going to town on his guitar...

What really sucked was the mainly young ticket buyers weren't informed Brown and Bivins would be missing in action, which meant folks who'd paid $20, $32.50 and $37.50 dollars had every right to expect seeing six guys on stage and not four...

And certainly not New Edition's manager who shared the stage with them for several songs toward the end of the night...

The group's Canadian label had "absolutely no clue" to the two's whereabouts, while their U.S. label said fans there were told Brown wasn't part of the tour and didn't think it was "a big deal."

Even more interesting, New Edition mentioned this was the group's last date but not once mentioned where their cohorts were...

Polite Canadians that we are, we didn't try melting the seats or throwing uncooked pretzels at the stage... Nearly 6,000 people partied, as the "Prince" song goes, like it was 1999...

Brown and Bivins' absence was soon forgotten as Ralph Tresvant, Johnny Gill, Ricky Bell, and Ronnie DeVoe - all of whom have enjoyed massive success as solo artists or with Bell Biv DeVoe - appeared in loose white suits and delivered classic New Edition jams - "If It Isn't Love" and "Can You Stand The Rain" - one after another...

But New Edition - who've been around for nearly 15 years - have never just been about delivering a song...

They do so with immaculate, choreographed dance steps and there's a certain joy watching them keep alive the rich tradition of black harmony groups while stepping a la The Temptations or Four Tops...

New Edition pulled out all the stops, singing snippets of "Mr. Telephone Man" and "Candy Girl," bits of songs they had hits with as solo artists - "Sensitivity," "Do Me," and "My, My, My" - and jams from their platinum-selling album, "Home Again" - "Tighten Up," & "How Do You Like Your Love Served."

It was during this song that things slowed to a crawl as each member took a turn crooning for a bit, and disclosing his astrological sign...

Tresvant, considered the sex symbol of the group, heated things up much of the same way LL Cool J did at the Gardens last year when he asked "the ladies" how they like their "love served."

A demonstration followed and the decibel level rose...

Wherever Brown and Bivins were, I'm sure they heard 'em...

January 27th... '97... EUR Article On New Edition... January 10th... '97... RollingStone Article On New Edition's Madison Square Garden Concert... December 27th... '96... New Edition Reunites After Years Of Solo Projects... July 23rd... '97... New Edition - Second Chapter... September 11th '96... MTV Article: That Was Then, This Is Now...