Danny Mommens Els Pynoo Dirk Cant Gilles Balcaen Maarten de Meyer
Vive la Fête (English: Long live the party) is a Belgian music duo from Ghent, East Flanders, formed in 1997 by Danny Mommens (guitar, vocals) and Els Pynoo (vocals).
History
Vive la Fête was founded in 1997 when Danny Mommens (then still a member of dEUS) met Els Pynoo at a party hosted by or for her sister. Mommens had previously been an acquaintance of Pynoo's sister, who had photographed Els nude and later shown the picture to him. In a 2005 interview, Els recounted that Mommens had approached her in a casual manner and randomly remarked, "Hey, I saw you naked!" Mommens recorded a few demos with Pynoo on his 8-track recorder, which were later released as the EPJe ne veux pas (also referred to as Paris). The EP gained attention for its resemblance to '80s new wave music.
Their first major success came with their debut album, Attaque Surprise (2000). Subsequent records such as République Populaire (2001) and Nuit Blanche (2003) increased their popularity, particularly in the fashion world, where Karl Lagerfeld became a fan. Lagerfeld invited them to perform at several of his major shows in New York City and Paris.[1]
In 2005, they released the album Grand Prix and toured extensively across Europe, while also performing shows in Brazil[2] and Mexico.
