Music and fashion have been joined at the ultra-hip long before MTV began occasionally chronicling what was going on in the world of haute couture. Prodigy, joined by fellow Brit acts Tricky and Republica, validated that union yet again at MTV's second installment of "Fashionably Loud"--where the catwalk features attitudinally-charged catfighting between cutting-edge rock bands and some of the world's most beautiful women and trendiest designers.
Prodigy, however, refused to get caught up in the game of one-upmanship. "We've never been a fashionable band and we don't really want to be," says chief lyricist Liam Howlett. "But if they choose to put us on stage and have supermodels dance around to our music, it's fine by me. We're just there to make the crowd rock."
And rock they did. In fact, Prodigy brought a rave to a fashion show and turned it into a rock concert. As the likes of Helena Christensen, Linda Evangelista, and Amber Valetta lit up the runway with the eccentric and somewhat impractical designs of Vivienne Westwood, the Prodigy's pulsating, high-energy techno rock whipped the audience into a frenzy. The demonic gaze of dueling vocalists Maxim Reality and Keith Flint easily drew the audience's attention away from the models and onto the stage.
"The real click of fashion is not the Prodigy because the Prodigy doesn't click," says Flint. "We're out there to buzz people up, stir 'em up, give them a little attitude but without the violence."
After a belly-flop stage dive into the pit, Flint spent the entireduration of "Funky Shit" leaping amongst the hip-hop East Village-types to who made up the majority of the audience.
Earlier, Tricky was not so fortunate. The Godfather of trip-hop's lethargic three-song set was easily upstaged by Naomi Campbell and the Versace/Versus line. Tricky's slow-moving, trance rhythms pulsated like a dying heartbeat and did not mesh well with the runway atmosphere.
In sharp contrast, Republica, with their spastic lead singer Saffron, provided what would turn out to be the ideal parallel between music and fashion -- the MTV wet dream -- with their upbeat, dance-oriented Britpop in the background of the puritan-like fashions of Anna Molinari.
MTV's constant attempts at redefining pop culture may sometimes fall short, but their intent is usually honorable. "Fashionably Loud" is merely another example. Did the music rock? Yup. Was the fashion eye-popping? Uh-huh. Did the combination of the two work? Sometimes. Check it out for yourself when MTV airs their second annual rock & roll f