Just after 10 p.m. on Tuesday, September 8 in the black curtained, cobblestone floored basement of the swanky Tribeca Grand Hotel, Kazu Makino, the lead singer of Blonde Redhead, slowly walked onto the stage wearing a frothy white blouse and grey military-style hat, with her long, pale-cinnamon legs tucked into clunky, unzipped black boots. The majority of the crowd had been there for at least an hour, enjoying the electrified comradarie of Gilt City's Fashion Week kick-off accompanied by complementary Brooklyn Brewery beer and Avion tequila. Blonde Redhead headlined the event while premiering their new album Penny Sparkle, which is due on shelves September 14. And as Kazu adjusted the candles on top of her keyboard and cranked the machine to start, the crowd turned away from the bar and inched a little bit closer to the stage. 

The international-become-American experimental-indie-rock trio became the apple of the underground music's eye six years ago with their breakthrough album Misery is a Butterfly, which, more than anything, established them as a driving force of the indie music scene through Kazu's extremely rare but eloquent vocals. An awesome stage presence, not counting the fact that the guitarist and drummer are twin brothers from Italy, Blonde Redhead has continued to produce music and gain popularity in the process. Three years since their last album, 23, they have set to release their new album in the coming weeks, but unzipped their packs and leaked a few copies to the few dozen in attendance as Fashion Week 2010 kicked off. 

Performing together nonstop for 17 years, Kazu and guitarist Amedeo Pace came together during one of their songs and fell into each other like putting on your favorite hat--worn and comfortable. They stood still, together, as the dashing blue and green lights flowed over their bodies and bounced off the midnight purple walls in the basement of the Tribeca Grand, radiating with the vibrations of their epic, flowing creshendo. 

Check out the photo slideshow and video of the event.

All photographs and videos by Jonathan Legere