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 (VLF) 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! 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, Grand Prix in 2005, Jour De Chance in 2007, Disque D’Or in 2009), and tours and releases all over the world, and passion ... wherever they go. 

And than of course there is their steaming rock ‘n roll live show that brought them to all major European festivals like Roskilde, Gurten, Benicassim, Arvika, Lowlands, Paleo, Pinkpop and the prestigious Montreal & Montreux Jazz Festivals.

Check them out if you get the chance, Vive La Fête live is lots of positive energy and one big party. 

www.vivelafete.be / www.myspace.com/vivelafete1