Festival Express (2004)

Great gift for the sixties generation

Festival Express is a blast from the past - the sixties and seventies generation will not believe how young and thin they once were. A very good birthday present. August 4, 2008

Good Times!

This is a good way to get a glimpse of what life on the road was like 'back in the day'. This tour wouldn't/couldn't happen today. Despite some logistical problems, and misguided college kids who don't quite think it all the way through there was probably never a better overall time than this train trip across Canada. Well worth watching! Steve Urbauer August 1, 2008

A perfect "snapshot" of Rock's Golden Era

Oh, how I wish I had been able to "Ride that train"... First off, the music aspect of the film is worth twice the price of the DVD alone. To see and feel Janis in her final days is beyond epic. I originally saw this in the Boulder Theater at a pre-release screening, and after both her performances the audience was literally speechless and silent for a few seconds before someone simply said what we were all thinking; "Wow." From the Dead to Buddy Guy, and the Band to ShaNaNa, it is a completely phenomenal musical experience.

However, the candid and often hysterical footage from the actual "trip" itself is by far the greatest part of the film. Imagine some of America's greatest musicians living a week in a Canadian fantasy world. Excess, genius, and hilarity all rolling down the tracks. Rick Danko, Janis, and Jerry singing in an drunken, acid soaked haze is probably one of the funniest rock and roll moments ever captured on film. (You know when janis Joplin asks, "How are you doing man?" to Rick, the world is definitely turning upside-down.)

Buy this, you won't regret it. July 9, 2008

Exciting Lost performance footage

The summer of 1970 - one of my best - definitely for *music*. Here we have some of the biggest icons of that period, up close and personal. Maybe a little too personal, as we watch many musical genuises, and apparently very decent decent, use legal and illegal substances well beyond necessity, and make us realize that none of 'em were role models outside of the instruments, the lights, the imagery.
The film includes poignant reminders of the downside of the Summer of '67 meets Woodstock era: alot of wild people trying to destroy the efforts of alot of folks who invested more than money in trying to provide respectable entertainment for them. In one spot way up North a group manages to at least slow down the proceedings and get performers like the Grateful Dead to perform an impromptu concert for free. Jerry Garcia is the diplomat - got it togther in a calm manner.
The progressive promoter, who road the train along with the musicians, emerges as quite a character: a kind of hippie Edward G. Robinson, assertively convincing a liquor store manager to sell him a prop display for an inspired application back on the train, knocking down a "98 pound weakling" of a local politician who demands that he lose considerable money in deference to his new, youthful constituency, who are somewhat undecided about the merits of Capitalism; tossing an "activist" down a flight of stairs.
As to the music, if you're a Grateful Dead or Janis Joplin fan, you've got it made in the shade (though "Cry Baby" is curiously below her standards here). If you're into Delaney & Bonnie, unless I missed something, all I see of Bonnie is a shot of her mellowing out on the train and another shot of her inshadow watching another lady sing the blues. Delaney & Bonnie & Friends were huge at the time...not much here.
Disc Two has very little content.
Overall quality, excellent. April 9, 2008

Wonderful!

Festival Express is a wonderful documentary of some amazing bands who take a journey across Canada. It contains wonderful footage of the bands on the train jamming together. It renews your faith in the ability of people to exist together and leave their egos at the door. It's amazing to see Janis and the Dead hanging out and playing together. If you want to see great musicians enjoy each other you need to watch this. It's guaranteed to put a smile on your face! March 26, 2008

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