Yes. I never tried that. But it should work that way.
Leave the monitor mode in "unlinked" (equivalent to pre-fader). so you can mix the compressed buss differently from the main drum channel.
Maybe not so much cymbals on the compressor? ;)
Than raise the "normal" drums near the desired level of performance and start to bring the compressed drum buss up slowly.
Be careful. Don't overdue it with the compressed bus.
The drums should start to sound really full and punchy, but they will take a lot of space in the mix.
And there's always the risk of ruining dynamics.
Also consider that heavily compressed mics on stage will feedback super easily.
This technique is very well known in studio mixing.
Some people call it "The fat fader"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwdbUUac8uw