For 11,500 screaming teens and pre-teens-many with parents in tow-Wednesday night in Allegian was a Boyz II Men love fest.

From the moment the four-man vocal group from Philadelphia appeared on stage Wednesday night at the Allegan County Fair, the near-sellout audience stayed on its feet and screamed for the next 90 minutes. If you hear someone with a hoarse voice today, he or she was probably at the concert.

In all my years of attending concerts (and the 80-plus concerts a year are starting to add up), this was the loudest crowd ever. The closest comparison was an insanely vocal audience for Garth Brooks in September 1992 at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.

Even the short-lived New Kids on the Block fans-the largest cword ever at the expanded facilities of the Allegan County Fair-screamed as if they were standing right next to the Boyz themselves. It was that big a show.

It was an emotional experience for many (some even cried), especially when Wanya Moris, Shawn Stockman, Michael McCary, and Nathan Morris sang some of the group's signature songs. The crowd quickly forgave the group for going on stage more than an hour past the scheduled 7 P.M. start. (Supposedly the group was in a business meeting that ran late.)

Opening under a sea of flashpots, fireworks, and pyrotechnics, the group set the tone early by bumping and grinding its way through "U Know," a song off its current, 8 million-selling II album. Dressed identically in white casual wear and green T-shirts, the Boyz never slowed down, dancing their way through an 11-song set in New Edition-meets - The Spinners fashion.

Backed by a competent five-man band, the group only suffered from muddy production and a bass-heavy mix, which made some of the vocals difficult to hear. But that didn't matter.

Fans sang along to every song and every word, especially durng the climatic "End of the Road" encore, which again brought out the fireworks. The crowd loved it, and fans never missed a note as the guys let the audience members sing the chorus three times, each louder than the last.

In between, Boyz II Men proved itself a capella group, heavy on sex appeal yet vocally one of the best pop groups around tody.

Both 1991's multi-platinum Cooleyhighharmony and 1994's II have become two of the biggest albums of the decade, which means viturally a generation of young people will remember the Boyz fondly as a part their growing up.

It's the songs that move people. Some are purely slick, slammin', fun, like "Motownphilly," and others deal with strong sexual images, like "50 Candles," an evocative number off the current album.

Still, the Boyz's clean-cut, "make something out of-your life" image and MTV appeal have made them the premiere pop group of the '90s, so strong that one of their most recent single, "On Bended Knee," went to No. 1 on the Billboard pop charts earlier this year by knocking off "I'll Make Love to You" - another Boyz II Men mega-hit.

Pop groups come and go (whatever did happen to New Kids on the Block, and does anybody care?), but Boyz II Men has such a mature quality that even adults have taken the group.

That's what sells records.

And that's what will very likely make Boyz II Men a success story for as long as these young men want to be.

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