First up, there’s the name
Three words, in French, often punctuated by an exclamation mark. ‘Vive La Fête’ translates as ‘Long Live The Party’ (as in celebration, festivity, bash, all-nighter, not as in some political wing). It’s a statement of positivism, a declaration of intent: music and people, dancing and romancing as a life-force, a big no to anything conformist and square. Of course, the fact any decent party should include the proverbial promise of sex and drugs and rock ‘n roll also accounts for the choice of the name of this band…
Vive La Fête is the cutest couple on the scene in quite a few years! It was love at first sight when Danny Mommens, at that time dEUS bassist, and his blonde goddess Els Pynoo first met in 1997. They could have left it at magnetic attraction, but instead of gazing into each other’s eyes all day long, the two lovers decided to combine their talents and create an entire universe dedicated to glamour, humour, and love. They had the good idea of naming themselves after the best possible kind of command: Vive La Fête!
The musical combination is pretty surprising too! Groups like the Klaxons might be getting lauded for their originality these days, but never forget that VLF were some of the first to dare to merge two seemingly incompatible musical trends and make of them something wild.
Vive La Fête is kind of like, if you took an 80’s pop sample, a bit of cold wave, the best kind of electronica, a smidgen of rock and the voice and lyrics of 60s French songstresses under the influence of Serge Gainsbourg… and then shook them all up. The resultant cocktail is one hell of a unique explosion! A true shot of pure eroticism. Add the fact that Danny and Els are hot with an innate sense of sexy showmanship (Make up? Check! Costumes? Check! Energy? Check!) success had to be just round the corner…
After their first albums (2000’s Attaque Surprise and 2001’s Republique Populaire) Vive La Fête were soon spotted by Karl Lagerfeld, who went on to declare himself their number one fan! They did the music to accompany the 2002 Chanel shows in Paris, Tokyo and Las Vegas, were invited by the Royal Family of Monaco to play at their prestigious Bal De La Rose and played hip clubs and cool festivals worldwide. They quickly gained media and public recognition with their outrageous live show and honest music. Then came more albums (Nuit Blanche in 2003 and Grand Prix in 2005), and tours and releases all over the world, and passion ... wherever they go.
In 2007 Vive La Fête released their fifth album “Jour de Chance” (Lucky day).
With every new album comes of new live show !
VLF plays all major European festivals like Roskilde, Gurten, Benicassim, Arvika, Lowlands, Paleo, Pinkpop and was invited to play at the prestigious Montreal & Montreux Jazz Festivals.
Check them out if you get the chance, Vive La Fête live is lots of positive energy on stage and very rock’n roll!
"Sexed-up electro-rock with verve and attitude." Montreal Mirror, Canada
"El pop mas glamouroso viene de Belgica." El Mundo, Spain
"Les voir en live c'est les comprendre". Trax Magazine, France
“Her best friend’s a supermodel, her boyfriend’s a rock star and her biggest fan is Karl Lagerfeld. Els Pynoo of Vive La Fête : a Blondie for electro’s new generation.” - i-D Magazine, US
"A festa realmente nunca termine para quem canta e dança com eles." Rolling Stone, Brazil
"Danny Mommens und Els Pynoo haben alles, was wahre Klasse ausmacht. Atemberaubend sexy und glitzernd kitschig sind die Beiden, dass es eine Freude ist. Feiern mit ganz grossen Stil." motor.de, Germany
"Un délire électro-pop-rock, à la fois ultra-sexy et glam; que demander de plus pour s'amuser?" Le Soir, Belgium
"Since the fashion world fell in love with Els Pynoo and Danny Mommens aka Vive La Fête!, the electro-pop duo has been tipped to hit it big and deservedly so." Update Magazine, UK
“Hailing from Belgium, Vive La Fête is the most stylish musical duo since Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin or Debbie Harry & Chris Stein; and they have a perfect electro-sound (they call it ‘kitch pop’) that makes you feel –and look- good… their record is excellent and their live act even better” - V Magazine
"We always wanted to make that kind of music for ourselves, and for all the homosexuals, bisexuals, lesbians and other modern people like you and me. And then have a party all together !" iD Magazine
At odds with everything and anyone, playfull, confrontational and .... sexy !
THE ENTIRE WORLD EATS FROM THE HANDS OF SEX SYMBOL ELS PYNOO AND NIGHT RAVEN DANNY MOMMENS. THEIR SEXY FRENCH TOUCH ELECTRO ROCK HAS WON NOT ONLY HIP CATWALKS FROM NEW YORK TO MILAN FOR SEVERAL YEARS NOW, BUT ALSO THE HOTTEST CLUBS FROM MOSCOU TO SAO PAOLO AND THE BIG FESTIVALS FROM LOWLANDS TO ROSKILDE.
Merci!merci!merci! vous étiez fabuleux aux Francofolies de Spa! vous nous avez donné du bonheur,de la joie,du punch,de la folie ! c'était énorme ! vous étiez magnifiques ! merci à Els pour tout ;) on vous fait à tous de gros bisous ! Love,love ,love et à la prochaine ! (avec grande impatience!) Steph,Anais et Luc
