The old-school stylings of New Edition remain popular and the R&B group is still filling concert halls 45 years after it was founded in 1978.
The iconic Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum-selling group’s Legacy Tour returns to Enterprise Center on April 15, 2023 with Keith Sweat and the original members of Guy (Teddy Riley, Aaron Hall, and Damion Hall) with special guest Tank.
The original 1978 New Edition, with Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, Bobby Brown, Ronnie DeVoe and Ralph Tresvant — began as a boy band modeled after the Jackson 5.
In 1982, “Candy Girl,” hit the charts and a string of hits including “Mr. Telephone Man” to “Can You Stand the Rain” followed.
Bell recently said in a bossip.com video with all New Edition members the exhilaration he felt upon hearing “Candy Girl” on a college station WRBB while still living with his family in a Boston housing project.
“I was running through the whole house,” Bell recalled.
“We thought it was only being played in Boston, we didn’t know it was playing all over the country and even all over the world, so when they told us it was number one we didn’t know what that meant.
“We never heard of Billboard or R&R or all these magazines that track your plays and your sales so we didn’t really understand the impact until we got on tour, traveling to different cities and seeing the audience react to the songs. We didn’t have the imagination to plot 40 years ahead. To be here 40 years later we have to give it to the grace of God.”
Brown began his solo career in 1985 for a solo career and he was replaced by Johnny Gill.
By the 1990s, three members reunited to form Bell Biv DeVoe, and New Edition reunion tours began late in the decade.
The addition of Keith Sweat and the original lineup of Guy makes this 40th Anniversary even more sweet, Devoe explained.
Taking it back to an age when things were meaningful, 1983, the fact that we’re in our 50’s now, a lot of us have seen people come and go in these last 40 years,” Devoe said.
“It’s a grateful situation and to be on tour with cats like Keith Sweat. We’ve been on tour with Keith two or three times over. Johnny was even in a group with the man. On tour with Guy and the different iterations of what Teddy has done over the years with Blackstreet and all of that.
“And even Tank, with ‘R&B Money’ putting that stamp back in the game, leads to the generation below us. Looking at the history and the fact we had a movie The New Edition Story that allowed us to go from a generation of like 45-60 all the way down to [ages] 5 and 6 and 7.
The concert tour made its CharIotte, N.C. stop last Friday and The Charlotte Observer concert reviewer shared this glimpse of the evening.
“It was after 10 o’clock by the time New Edition rose from under the stage ring long yellow jackets and fedoras. The group performed the first songs — including Johnny Gill’s solo smash “Rub You the Right Way” — without Brown, who would eventually emerge to chants of his name for “My Prerogative” before exiting briefly again while the group sang post-Brown hit “If It Isn’t Love,” she wrote.
“That’s one thing about a New Edition show. You aren’t just getting a medley of ’80s teen pop like “Candy Girl,” “Cool It Now” and “Popcorn Love.” Ralph Tresvant — who carries himself on stage like Prince, shirt flowing open in sparkly black pants — performs a sultry “Sensitivity” backed by scantily-clad dancers. Brown breaks out his biggest hits. Gill performs “My My My” solo as Ricky Bell, Michael Bivens and Ronnie DeVoe prep backstage for Bell Biv DeVoe hits “Poison” and “Do Me” late in the show.”
The New Edition Legacy Tour ’23 is at 8 p.m. Saturday April 15, 2023 at The Enterprise Center. Tickets range from $69.50 to $129.50 and cam be purchased through ticketmaster.com.
