We’ve been thrilled with the Visage final wave of activity from 2013 which concluded too swiftly with the death of Steve Strange in 2015. But the impact of that period is still causing waves to lap at the shores of Lake Strange and now we’ve been given the least likely album release ever with the formerly studio-only band issuing “Visage Live 2013” in October of this year. With the talent that made the studio album “Hearts + Knives” one of my favorites of 2013 out on the stage, this was a project to show how “real” the studio project could get.

The lineup on the shows was with Steve Strange and Lauren Duvall on vocals, with Steve Barnacle on Bass and Robin Simon on guitar. Logan Sky had contributed synth programming on the album and stepped into the live keyboard role, which he’d continue to occupy for the rest of the band’s lifespan. For drums, Barnacle brought his friend Johnny Marter to the drumstool. We’d gotten a taste of the grittier live Visage sound on the “Dreamer I Know” CD-5 with a live take of “The Anvil” as recorded on Hoxton. We get a lot more of where that came from here, and the new CD features a different performance of “The Anvil,” for the record.

Visage: Live 2013 – UK – CD [2024]

1. Never Enough
2. The Damned Don’t Cry
3. The Anvil
4. Hidden Sign
5. Pleasure Boys
6. Mind Of A Toy
7. The Dancer
8. Shameless Fashion
9. Fade To Grey
10. Visage

We first hear Robin Simon giving us a couple of very Frippy lead lines but that was before the juggernaut beat kicked in and synched with the sequencers as the brilliant “Never Enough” got this set started with a burst of Post-Punk energy. It was a thrill to hear Simon weaving his guitar leads nimbly through the beats and synths in glorious syncopation. Listening to this performance, I’m seriously envious of those who got to experience Visage live eleven years ago. Especially in hearing Mr. Simon’s elegant riffage in the song’s climax.

The CD edition of the songs takes pains to leave in some of the chatter from Steve Strange between the songs. While the performances are indeed the show, I appreciate the decision made to put across Steve’s personality in what was certainly a momentous event in his life. Finally fronting Visage in more than name only. In addressing the audience he sounds as if he can hardly believe his luck in getting this chance. But luck had nothing to do with how accomplished the band were as the tight, energetic group brought their A-level game to the table.

Longtime fave “The Damned Don’t Cry” got a lighter, more delicate touch with Robin Simon’s watery tremolo guitar licks contrasting with the sequencer and Logan Sky’s shimmering synth melodies. Things took a turn for the harder and tougher with “The Anvil” sporting a merging of Mr. Barnacle’s muscular bass lines with Sky’s horn-like synth riffs and the catlike prowl of Simon’s guitar. Mr. Marter adding the all-important metallic percussion that was the essence of this relentless, homoerotic anthem. In fact this version was so male-oriented I will admit to missing the backing vocals from Ms. Duvall here as on the album version, but her sitting this one out made a kind of thematic resonance, I suppose.

We then got another new song in the well-chosen set with “Hidden Sign” manifesting in a arrangement that took a step away from the Country/Folk-adjacent sound of the familiar album version deeper into Rock territory; as if the metallic riffage in the intro from Simon didn’t let us know immediately. This time we got the song as a proper duet with Duvall joining Mr. Strange for the heartfelt song as Simon unleashed a taut solo in the middle eight, complete with bent, violin-like riffs that really left the studio version in the shade. Prompting an ebullient Steve to proclaim “that woke you up, didn’t it?”

Opening with sampled cycles and the deep bass of Barnacle, this version of “Pleasure Boys” opened with delightful syncopation between Simon and Sky on the vaguely Asian riff in the intro. This song was always an outlier to something hard and minimal in the Visage canon and here it’s been stripped back to its grittiest airing ever. And it all sounded the better for it! With the envelope on the sequencer riff kicking particularly hard on this outing. And the appearance of Simon’s guitar here was a first for this number; having been recorded after Midge Ure had left the project back in the day. Let’s just say that he didn’t water down the soup!

Next: …Exploding Dancers