From the ashes of the seminal Punk Rock Detroit music scene; Stooges, MC5, SRC, Sonic Rendezvous are the origins of noise. An unusual group of unknown, soon to be famous, artists emerged. Niagara, Mike Kelley, Jim Shaw called their collaborative experimental sound, DESTROY ALL MONSTERS, from the Japanese Sci Fi Film of the same name.

These basement tapes were recently unearthed, made into a box set and released by Thurston [Sonic Youth] Moore's Estatic Label. Described by "Rolling Stone" as "Deep, dark archival magic", Niagara's son titles speak for themselves; "I Love You But Your Dead", "T.H. Queen", "You're Gonna Die" etc.

Hailed by critics worldwide, Destroy All Monsters is dismissed by founding member, Niagara, "It's a bunch of crap...we could not play our instruments, we were thrown off every stage or party we crashed."

It's not until Ron Asheton [Iggy and the Stooges] and Mike Davis [MC5] were added to the line-up that we learned what a chord change was" The metamorphosis was from noise to Proto Punk. D.A.M. toured Europe in 1979. That version of the band blazed a trail of booze, pills and debauchery that self destructed in 1984 and is still talked about today...[4 singles and CDS later].

When the wilder, tougher D.A.M. was burning out, a self-styled promoter appeared called Colonel Galaxy. He allied various members of Detroit bands to form a Super group known as Dark Carnival. It was a nightmarish vaudeville Punk Review that opened on a Halloween night in Detroit. The response was an overwhelming and future dates saw an ever changing cast of Punk Rockers.

When Stiv Bators [Dead Boys] died in Paris in 1987 and his family couldn't afford burial costs, Dark Carnival played a benefit with Cheetah Chrome, Scott Asheton and others, in his home town of Cleveland.

Eventually the band boiled down to Niagara, Ron Asheton, Greasy Carlisi, Pete Bankert and L.J Steele. This focused unit toured Australia to sold out performances.

Niagara's haunting vocals give the performance an edgy feel while Asheton's soaring guitar crescendos are the stuff of legend. Dark Carnival is the last link to the Detroit sound which Lester Bangs once decried as "a raw yet precise sonic assault". CREEM Magazine Editor, Ben Edmonds, calls it "the Music of the Future".

John Holmstrom, PUNK Magazine Founder, has said, "Niagara must be a vampire, she's more beautiful than ever.

Look for DARK CARNIVAL'S "THE LAST GREAT RIDE" CD on Sympathy For The Record Industry Label.

Also a LIVE Halloween show recorded in N.Y.C., 97. Available on this website only.