Gigs

Vive la Fete: Apelsin, July 22 By Arina Birstein

Issue 8 July 8 - September 9, 2004

The Belgian duo, whose music has served as the soundtrack to fashion shows by such catwalk legends as Louis Vuitton and Karl Lagerfeld, consists of guitarist and keyboard player Danny Mommens and his significant other, singer Els Pynoo. The two met in 1997 and, after falling in love, began to record experimental tracks that combined Mommens’ like of melancholic cold wave and back-to-basics electronica with Pynoo’s breathy, provocative French vocals. While their first two albums failed to make a splash, their luck improved in 2001 when Parisian DJ Michel Gaubert included Vive la Fete on a CD for Parisian fashion superstore Colette.

Designer Karl Lagerfeld then proclaimed Vive la Fete his favorite band and invited them to play a live set during the Paris presentation of his Chanel collection. From there, the catwalks of the world were just a short sashay away. During their Moscow performance, the band is expected to showcase tracks from their latest album, “Nuit Blanche.”

Jalouse’s previous Chicks on Speed party attracted so many potential concert-goers that there was a crazed gridlock at the entrance, so if Vive la Fete has anything like the drawing power of Chicks on Speed — better get there early.