In the mid 1990s, the notion of Depeche Mode singer DAVE GAHAN fronting a credible solo career would have seemed laughable. Despite his band's worldwide stadium domination, fame had come at a considerable price for Gahan, whose embrace of the Hollywood lifestyle had brought him to within inches of his life on several occasions thanks to a ravaging heroin habit.
Thankfully, Dave had the will to hang on and bounce back with Depeche, but whatever charisma he possessed as a frontman, his songwriting capabilites were untried. Songwriting, did you say? Surely the driving musical forced in DM were always Martin Gore and Alan Wilder?
Thus, the arrival of Gahan's first solo album "Paper Monsters" last year caused more than a few eyebrows to be raised, not least when most of the songs (mostly co-written with guitarist and ex-Psychedelic Fur Knox Chandler) were actually bloody good. Wow, we hadn't been expecting that.
"Live Monsters", then, is the DVD of the accompanying world tour and if any lingering doubts still remain in your head about Dave Gahan as credible, confident solo star, have a blimp at this.
Filmed with clarity and few fussy frills at the cavernous Paris Olympia during the summer of 2003, the DVD presents a full live set, with a couple of useful additional features, including an acoustic set from a radio promo appearance and a short interview segment. We'll get to those later, but first let's concentrate on "Live Monsters" itself.
Because basically this is Dave Gahan in excelsis. Of course we know the live arena's always been his forte and -typically - he's not entirely devoid of his trademark stadium pillockry even (in Dave's eyes) a smaller venue such as this. Within a couple of songs the shirt's off and the set's peppered with "Sing it!"s and "Let's see those hands!", but somehow when Gahan does this he's endearing rather than twattish and always here the obvious love of what he's doing shines through.
Besides, he's got the material to walk it like he talks it. "Dirty Sticky Floors" soon makes it clear he doesn't need Martin Gore to pen his smouldering confessionals anymore, while Nick Cave wouldn't be embarrased by the maliciously bluesy crawl of "Black & Blue Again" and in both the mature "Bitter Apple" and serene "Stay", Gahan has the 'anthemic ballad' department well and truly stocked.
Musically, Gahan's band are revelatory, too. Sure, Chandler, drummer Victor Indrizzo, bassist Martyn Lenoble and keyboard player Vince Jones bring hardened US professionalism with them, but they have soul as well as proficiency. Chandler likes a bit of posing, but his technique in textural rather than flashy and he only puts the boot in when necessary; Indrizzo and Lenoble supply rippling muscle and impressive versatility and Jones quietly, but significantly stamps his presence on the songs.
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Indeed, it's testament to the whole team that Gahan's strategic raids on Depeche's back catalogue sit perfectly rather than outclass his own material. Yes, "A Question Of Time" is still brilliant, but it follows a cooking "Dirty Sticky Floors", and while "Personal Jesus" is as undeniable as ever, it comes in the slipstream of an edgy "Bottle Living". Yeah, there's the odd bit of flotsam (the funky "I Need You" and "A Little Piece" both suffer from mid-set flagging), but when there's the weird darkness of "Goodbye" and the inevitable home strait of "I Feel You" and "Never Let Me Down Again" in reserve, who's asking, really.
The brief acoustic radio promo set ensures a trawl of the DVD's extra features is worthwhile. The dark, hard-edged electro sounds of the full live experience transfer surprisingly well to the stripped down stage and during these takes of "Bitter Apple" and "Dirty Sticky Floors" Gahan actually stands still and emotes, proving exactly why his deep croon remains so distinctive. The short interviews with the band, meanwhile, are the standard backstage thoughts and nothing revelatory, though everyone's warmth of feeling for Gahan is undoubtedly real and this trip is clearly a blast for them all.
Dpeche Mode's future must again be called into question after listening to Gahan's own laudably honest recollections, not least because he's so obviously got the bit between his teeth here and talks frankly about wanting to continue where this solo path is leading him. What will happen next will be interesting, but for now "Live Monsters" is both an impressive portrait of a durable character enjoying new life and a corking concert film.
"You keep sending me all these things, I'm learning how to smile," he sings during "Hold On." Reckon so, Dave. Thanks for sticking with us.
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