Dark Carnival
The Last Great Ride

1977. Detroit is no longer burning. The fire set by MC5 and Stooges—the most incendiary bands in the vicinity—has now burned out. The embers smolder under the ashes. The Stooges have long collapsed due to excess heroin and a lack of dollars, and Ron Ashton returns home after the brief Los Angeles experience with his The New Order (no, not the Joy Division bereft of Ian Curtis). He meets the singer of Destroy All Monsters, Lynn Rovner, alias Niagara, a stage name inspired by the Marilyn Monroe film of the same name; the two become lovers, and Ron joins the band, but after just three singles released between '78 and '79, Asheton bows out, leaving with New Race of Rob Younger and Deniz Tek, ex-Radio Birdman. Destroy All Monsters will release a posthumous album in 1991, titled Bored.

1990. Niagara and Ashton decide to form a new band with Ron's brother, Scott on drums, Cheetah Chrome of Dead Boys on second guitar, and Joe Hayden on bass. Thus, the project Dark Carnival is born, which releases two live recorded albums, Welcome To Show Business Live (1990) and Greatest Show In Detroit (1991)—which draw from the Stooges' repertoire as well—and a self-titled studio album (1991). Dark, high-octane punk rock, classic Motor City Sound that continues the trajectory traced by MC5 and Stooges, among Asheton’s sonic assaults and Niagara’s monotone singing, a high-concentration pheromone crossroads between PJ Harvey and Lydia Lunch.

1997. After various lineup changes surrounding Ron and Niagara, with Greasy Carlisi on guitar, Pete Bankert on bass, and L.J. Steele on drums, The Last Great Ride is released, an album that includes material left in Dark Carnival's drawer for years.

Ten tracks where echoes of Stooges, MC5, Radio Birdman resonate, and a dark, unhealthy atmosphere hangs over them. Brutal punk-blues dripping with psychedelia—not the lysergic kind of the sixties, but the hallucinatory kind of heroin (even though Ron was the only "clean" Stooge), that of the filthy Motor City, suffocated by factory smoke. Urban music narrating alienation, stories of junkie heroin addicts, hangovers, violence, and murders through Niagara’s languid voice.

Existential and metropolitan discomfort resonates in the gothic and obsessive “Let There Be Dark,” in the overwhelming rides of "Bloody Mary" and "Heaven Can Wait," in the frenzied wah-wah of "Cop's Eyes" that digs into the guts, in the eerie instrumental "Selvira" with thunder and final howls, in the dark and amphetaminic "I Died a Thousand Times," in the adrenaline-fueled punk of "Bang" and “Good Morning, Headache," in the energetic ballad "Memories Are For Losers." Up to the concluding title track, a torrid psychedelic blues masterpiece, where the sorcerer Ashton buries the Dark Carnival under a torrential flood of distortions and feedback exhaled from his masterful guitar.

The Last Great Ride is an album for those who love the Motor City Sound and, in general, Rock’n’Roll sharp and hard as a nail. An album that testifies to the value of this band, unknown to most and that—as often happens—did not receive the deserved recognition. Ron Ashton had to wait for the asphyxiated reunion of the Stooges to gain greater visibility (and consequently more financial stability) and Niagara for the launch of her painting career. Certainly, commercial success was never a priority for these artists, but there is a universal truth, which is that life is infinitely easier when you can pay the rent.

After this album, Dark Carnival left the known lands never to return, and this remains their Last Great Ride, as foretold by the title.

Niagara dedicated herself to painting, while Ron in 2003 resumed doing what he’s always done best: playing his guitar alongside Iggy Pop in the (revived) Stooges, until death, on January 6, 2009, invited him for the last waltz at his home in Ann Arbor, a suburb of Detroit, Michigan.