Customer Reviews

Festival Express

5 star:		(73)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Folks, I can only say...it sure brings tears to my eyes to see
these people again, the ones that are gone. Richard Manuel singing "I shall be released", Rick Danko jamming with Jerry Garcia "no more cane", and especially seeing Pigpen blowing harp
during "new speedway boogie", and the shots of Janis singing two
great tunes "cry to me" and "tell mama". I guess I'm getting nostalgic in my old age, but these musicians meant a lot to me when I was young, providing the soundtrack to a lot of my youthful escapades. The Band played the best concert I ever saw
in 1970 in Pittsburgh, just a few months after this film was shot, so they are captured here in practically the same spirit.
I went to see the Flying Burrito Brothers once in 1971, but couldn't get into the bar because my girlfriend was underage, but they are shown here as a four piece singing "lazy days", so I finally get to see them perform.
This is a wonderful film capturing a wonderful cross country music express. The only complaint - woefully short for my taste- I could take a few more hours of this.

With more than 50 additional minutes of exclusive performance footage not seen in the theatrical version of the film, the Festival Express DVD set features the following "bonus" set list:
Grateful Dead "Hard to Handle"
Grateful Dead "Easy Wind"
Janis Joplin "Move Over"
Janis Joplin "Kozmic Blues"
Buddy Guy "Hoochie Coochie Man"
Mashmakhan "As Years Go By"
Eric Anderson "Thirsty Boots"
Ian & Sylvia "Tears of Rage"
Tom Rush "Child's Song"
Seatrain "Thirteen Questions"
The DVD set also offers 25 minutes of additional interviews

In the summer of 1970, some of the most famous names in contemporary music appeared at a series of Canadian concerts. What set these shows apart from Woodstock, Monterey, etc. was the fact that the musicians, promoters and crew travelled between cities and venues in a CN commuter train. This hairy, heady trip is documented in "Festival Express".

Interspersed with a veritable cornucopia of performances (more on these in a moment) are latter-day interviews with some of the participants explaining why the film footage remained unseen and little-discussed for over three decades. Although certainly interesting and enlightening, I think most viewers will be drawn towards the music. And oh, what music it is. Highlights include...

The Grateful Dead's haunting "New Speedway Boogie", which perfectly captured the widespread anger, fear and confusion in the wake of the Altamont tragedy. Despite Robert Hunter's disturbing lyrics, most concertgoers can be seen grooving joyously to the spectacle of Jerry Garcia crooning into the microphone and Ron "Pigpen" McKernan making sweet love to his harmonica.

The Buddy Guy Blues Band blasting through "Money". I had heard this chestnut performed many times in the past and, previously, always thought of it as so-so. However, I have never heard it sound so desperate, so vital, as it does here. Wandering amongst the audience, picking anguished notes from his guitar, Buddy moans, screams and wails, as brother Phil (on rhythm guitar) and the rest of the band chug along behind him. Buddy and Phil can also be seen taking part in some of the impromptu jams on the train. And that brings me to...

"Ain't No More Cane on the Brazos" - in the hands of a rowdy bunch of (ahem) "enhanced" musicians, this mournful Leadbelly song becomes almost celebratory. The Band's Rick Danko and blues-mama extraordinaire Janis Joplin belt it out while Jerry and Dead guitarist Bob Weir strum along. Plopped between them, John "Marmaduke" Dawson (from New Riders of the Purple Sage) tries not to burst out laughing while over in the corner, folk legends Ian and Sylvia Tyson sway beatifically. At the piece's coda, Jerry declares his love for Janis. Although uproariously funny, this scene is also sad to watch now for reasons which are probably obvious.

Speaking of The Band... try as I might, I cannot choose just one of their performances to mention here. All three are fantastic (although as a Band fan, I suppose I am somewhat biased). They bring the house down on the Little Richard number "Slippin' and Slidin'", show appropriate gravitas (pardon the pun) to "The Weight" and really deliver the goods on "I Shall Be Released", with Richard Manuel's heartbreaking vocals taking center-stage.

"Lazy Day" - this country-rock ditty from the (post-Gram Parsons) Flying Burrito Brothers floats along enjoyably, enhanced by suitably hedonistic lyrics and Pete Kleinow's steel guitar. And, if nothing else, the Brothers prove once and for all that white boys can have Afros too.

"Coming Home Baby", by homegrown rockers Mashmakhan, is a throbbing, pulsing musical maelstrom, enhanced by the no-nonsense rhythm section of Jerry Mercer and Brian Edwards, Rayburn Blake's slashing guitar and Pierre Senecal's groovy organ (and jaw-dropping flute solo).

Not to be outdone, "C.C. Rider" proves why Ian and Sylvia were (and still are) two of the most respected names in Canadian folk-rock. Backed by their band, the Great Speckled Bird (including redneck drum legend N.D. Smart and steel-guitar wizard Buddy Cage) as well as representatives from some of the aforementioned groups, the cowboy-librarian duo treat the Ma Rainey saga with the zest and verve it truly deserves.

And what review would truly be complete without a proper mention of Janis? The movie's final performance, "Tell Mama", explains in no uncertain terms why this lady was such an icon of her era. Backed by the knowing notes of the Full-Tilt Boogie Band, Ms. J. pleads, harangues, coaxes and cajoles her "young cat" into her arms while delivering one of the stream-of-consciousness raps which are now the stuff of legend.

I could go on forever about these segments, as well as the great bonus performances also included on the DVD (Tom Rush! Eric Andersen! Seatrain! Oh wow!). However, I would like to conclude this review by mentioning some of the things that are **not** included, for the benefit of potential customers.

Several of the acts who took part in the Festival concerts do not appear in the film at all. During the restoration and editing of "Festival Express", Alvin Lee asked that scenes of his band, Ten Years After, not be included as he felt that they were sub-par (a viewpoint shared, in fact, by the filmmakers). Complete footage of Traffic and Mountain was, sadly, nowhere to be found despite much searching. And the movie concludes with two songs for which only the audio portion was locatable - Janis warbling an early version of "Me and Bobby McGee" and the New Riders' reverent rendition of the bluegrass classic "Jordan". (For some reason, this latter song, also attempted by Jerry G. and Sylvia T. mid-way through the picture, is referred to in the credits as "Better Take Jesus' Hand").

Also, for you Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett fans, these two and their "Friends" are prominently credited but do not perform a complete song at any point during "Festival Express". Their version of "Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad" (assisted by Leslie West from Mountain) early in the movie is all but inaudible due to the interviews which have been overlaid onto it. However, there is quite a bit of other footage of Delaney (backing Ian and Sylvia), Bonnie (enjoying herself on the train) and Kenny Gradney (griping about various things) so I suppose it's not a total loss.

Finally, I should point out that some of music historian David Dalton's reminiscences are just plain wrong. The most notable error is his statement that Jimi Hendrix had died by the time the concert series began (in fact, Jimi did not leave us until September 18th, 1970, well after the last show took place). His other blunders will be obvious to the seasoned viewer so I will leave it there.

Thanks to promoters Ken Walker, Thor Eaton, Dave Williams and everyone in the cast and crew who made "Festival Express" such an impressive, amazing experience.

And to Janis, Pigpen, Richard, Jerry and Rick, God bless you.

Great documentary from the beginning to the last stop. Casey Jones and crew takes you on a ride from Toronto to Winnipeg and on to the last show in Calgary in june 1970 with 14 major musical acts ( Janis Joplin and Band , The Grateful Dead , Buddy Guy , The Band , Flying Burrito bros , Ian Andersen , Sha-Na-Na and more) . The footage and mixing with split panel shots and trippy color lighting is just right. My favorite is Janis belting out perhaps the best song ever filmed (Cry , Baby) of the Hippie times. The Dead New Speedway boogie is great and so is a Dont Ease Me In , even with a riot going on protesting the high tix price of $14. On the last night on board they filmed a priceless tripping jam with Danko , Janis , Jerry and Bob Weir. Jerry is off screen but says to Janis "I loved you the first time I saw you". Buddy Guy in Winnipeg is another highlight. This could only be pulled off once , at that time and it was filmed for all to see. - Thank You

I can't say I enjoyed every performance shown, but it's a treasure in its entirety. The film captures the moment between the 60s and 70s and reflects the awkwardness, innocence, brutality, and insecurity of the time. Showing people in such a raw state is always tricky and the film could be taken apart and criticized in various ways, but I think that would be missing the point.

I've long had a soft spot for Janis Joplin and to see her in absolute top form only a few months before her death was especially moving. I also gained new respect for Jerry Garcia; what a mensch! In Toronto, still young and beard jet black, taking charge during a riot and defusing the situation was impressive.

The film's saturated, grainy 16mm look is gorgeous and the sound is reasonably good given the vagaries of the production. The extra interview footage of the concert promoter on the second disc had me literally in tears laughing with disbelief at some of the more extreme aspects of what went on.

In 1970, a train set off across Canada, taking with it some of the best bands and musicians of the time--The Band, Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead. It was a party on rail, and at each stop they put on a massive concert. Coming in the wake of Woodstock, Altamont, etc., it was only natural to film the whole thing. After a great deal of angst, and even more music, and yet even more hard-ass, old-style partying, over thirty hours of truly historic footage was captured...then locked away.

The concerts were wrought with controversy. A certain portion of the Canadian youth felt that the concert should be free, that the bands and promoters should be undertaking this massive expense out of the goodness of their own hearts. While life on the train was great, off the train the bands were met with angry protestors, negative write-ups, and outbreaks of violence. It was a financial failure from the outset, and once the concerts were done, no money was left to compile the eagerly-awaited film.

For nearly thirty years, the footage sat and deteriorated. When it was rediscovered in the mid 90's, much of it was missing or just unusable. After a great deal of work, and with the help of some of the original participants, by 2003 the producers of the film were able to cobble together a documentary chronicling this unique event in rock history.

Classic rock fans will truly enjoy this DVD. It features performances by the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin and The Band, all in their prime. Some of the other performances, from Sha Na Na, to Ian & Sylvia & the Great Speckled Bird, to Mashmakhan, are not as memorable. You get an ecclectic mix of some absolute gems, some decent although forgotten bands (The Flying Burrito Brothers), and some great vintage footage of 70's era concert-goers.

The documentary portions of the film are interesting, but a bit on the sparse side. At one point, the narrative flow is interrupted by three consecutive songs. While the performances are great, the cohesiveness of the story is shattered. The footage from the train is nearly as enjoyable as the concert footage. Seeing Janis Joplin and Rick Danko blasted out of their minds, singing No More Cane on the Brassos together, is a real pleasure. A bit more of this behind the scenes stuff would have been welcomed.

Overall, this is an enjoyable, but not stellar film. The DVD looks as good as it can, but the shape of the source material hampers it from being a truly exceptional presentation. The sound is uneven at times, and much of the vintage footage is worn and grainy. The interviews, both in the film an in the special features, are informative and fun, but could have been better with a few more participants. With 30 hours of footage originally being shot, one would hope for a bit more than 140 minutes of film (90 minutes of the feature and 50 minutes of bonus performances), and about a dozen horrible looking still shots from the film itself. Still, I bought this for The Band, and was pleased with what I got.

Just in case this is the first review of this DVD you're reading, the premise of "Festival Express" is simple: A bunch of rock and roll legends take a trip by train across Canada, jamming and partying and stopping in towns along the way to perform live on stage. Until a couple weeks ago, I didn't even know what "Festival Express" was. (Gimme a break, I was 5-years-old when this was filmed.) I joined a DVD club and came across this gem while placing my first order. Boy am I glad I did! However, there is one thing about this movie that really bugged me. Much like the movie "Woodstock", we have to endure the rants and raves of immature kids griping about having to pay for tickets to the shows. Boo hoo! Hello! There's a reason why these people are called "professional musicians." Their music is their bread and butter. I don't know what ticket prices were for Woodstock, but I do know that the tickets for the "Festival Express" shows were a mere 14 bucks. That's not a lot of money when you consider you're seeing people like The Band, Janis Joplin and Grateful Dead. When The Eagles came to my home town for the "Hell Freezes Over Tour", tickets were $100.00! I know it was decades later than the aforementioned shows, but still...$100.00! Okay, aside from that little annoyance, there are many reasons why I do recommend this DVD:

#1. This is the perfect companion piece if you already own the "Woodstock" DVD. During the opening scenes of "Woodstock", before Richie Havens does the first live performance in the movie, we see clips of Jerry Garcia restringing his guitar and Janis Joplin getting off of a helicopter. Unfortunately, that's the last we see of either of them. I know that The Grateful Dead said they weren't happy with their performance at Woodstock. I think I would've liked to see it anyway. The Band also played at the three-day music festival, yet their performance is also missing from the film, and ditto for Janis. Luckily, "Festival Express" includes some awesome performances from all three of these acts. There is even footage of all three jamming together on the train, with Janis, Rick Danko, Jerry Garcia, and Bob Weir jammin' on "Ain't No More Cane." Priceless!

#2. "Festival Express" features an awesome performance of "The Weight" by The Band. As far as I know, the only other performance of this song caught on film is in Martin Scorcese's "The Last Waltz." A fine film, it is part of my collection. I have nothing against The Staple Singers, but I'm not too fond of that particular rendition of such a great song.

#3. "Festival Express" might be the last known recording of Janis Joplin live in concert. Enough said.

#4. This film is a prime example of the fuzzy area between the peace and love of Woodstock and the death and dispair of Altamont. It's hard to believe that all three events happened within the span of a year.

#5. Since we will likely never get to see the home movies made during the cross-country "trip" taken by Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters (depicted in Tom Wolfe's "Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test"), this railroad trip across Canada is probably the best equivalent we'll ever get to experience. Maybe better.

So, there you have it. Five great reasons to add "Festival Express" to your music DVD collection. Anyone who is a fan of these legendary rockers will not be disappointed.

Even in the recent shadow of the 60's it was a lunatic idea for a rock promoter -- plan a three concert tour of Canada, set prices at a level above free (the only acceptable concert price for many a year past Woodstock), charter a train for the musicians, fill it with food and booze for six days of travel across the Canadian prairie, and expect to make money. But that's what the promoters of Festival Express did and now, 34 years later as the long-lost tapes have emerged, been edited and re-mixed, I'm just thankful they had that lunatic idea and filmed this documentary to put us on that train. Of course it all was a financial disaster, rock musicians can easily outdrink even diplomats and academics, but it is one terrific ride, and for me, far and away the documentary of 2004.

Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead explains the liquor thing: "Liquor was new for all of us; we'd all been doing marijuana and hallucinogens." Well, Janis had always had her Southern Comfort, but for the rest of the entourage maybe that explains why the train had to make an unscheduled stop in Saskatoon to restock the booze. The hat was passed, so the narration goes, and over $800 was raised, enabling us to see loving footage of the likes of Jerry Garcia and Rick Danko of the Band helping load new cases of booze onto the train.

The music scenes here are superb, far better than in Woodstock, let alone the anti-Woodstock, Gimme Shelter, and the ten or so minutes in the middle of the film when under the night stars in Winnipeg the Band sings The Weight followed by Janis doing Cry to Me may be the best capturing on film of what it was like to live in that time and hear that music live. Of course, if one is ever still tempted to think he/she was brilliant while high an extended scene of Danko, Garcia, and Joplin noodling away on an old Leadbelly song (aside -- these people really knew their roots, blues and country/folk, and lots of that comes through in the casually shot footage of jam sessions on the train) surely cures that illusion -- if they weren't, and they weren't, chances are no one else was either. Still the 60s do have their relevant messages for today -- for example, the Dead singing New Speedway Boogie with its first line that should be applied to all our politicians, in office and aspiring to, "Please don't dominate the rap, Jack, if you've got nothing new to say..."

Janis sings Me and Bobby McGee over the credits, right after the closing scene of an old engineer, shutting the switching site shed doors on the engine that pulled the train and walking away, growing smaller in the distance as the camera stays fixed on his back. For one who remembers exactly where he was when hearing of her death just a couple months later, the only disappointment of this movie is that there may be no soundtrack album, at least none is mentioned in the credits. If the Band, the Dead, Janis, or their supporting cast -- Ian and Sylvia, Buddy Guy, Flying Burrito Brothers, among others -- matter to your life still, see this movie as soon as you can.

Although the Trans-Continental Pop Festival is a forgotten footnote in rock n roll history (except if you were there, saw the '74 film JANIS [which contained a few performances] or are a GD tape trader looking for the part of the shows that were in circulation) the film gives the event a second look at a unique period in early 70s music. If you have seen WOODSTOCK, this film has the same feel with the usual hippies, peace signs, love beads, illicit substances and an audience looking for a free ride. The Festival Express did not become a cultural phenomenon like its predecessor, but there were a lot of fine performances from the Grateful Dead, Janis, The Band, Buddy Guy, Sha Na Na, Ian and Sylvia etc....all who performed at various rock festivals in the era, and captured that unique spirit very well.

I saw FESTIVAL EXPRESS in a movie theatre in Philadelphia, and was impressed how well the vintage footage was preserved. Although it was shot almost 35 years ago, the colors are so vivid, the multi screen images are a headful, the stereo sound is extraordinary. Garcia & Janis look so young, like they were still alive. The movie's release on DVD this month was worth waiting for, because like the theatre presentation, the home video looks beautiful in color and sounds great in headphones!! There is also wealth of bonus performances. FESTIVAL EXPRESS is a five-star movie.

Unfortunately, all the good stuff is on disc one, and disc two is a total waste. There are additional interviews and a trailer, but there is no actual vintage footage of the Festival. The important comments from the producers and the musicians are in the movie itself (disc one), so the additional interviews are rendered uninteresting and lifeless. There's a useless "photo gallery" that is taking up dvd space. Ultimately the consumer is paying for a double dvd price, and will detect a rip-off. This release should have been a one-disc affair because the priceless vintage footage is the main attraction of FESTIVAL EXPRESS.

After seeing this film I needed a drink....many drinks. What I had experienced was mind blowing. Seeing many of the greatest rock heroes siting in a train and being themselves. But there is a moment in the film that you realise that this way of living is dangerous... seeing Rick Danko, Jerry Garcia , and Janis singing, playing guitar....having fun makes you realise that live is short. You see a lot of dead people in this movie. But lucky for us there are a few people left to tell the story what happened on that train.
Okay enough talk about dead people....then they were alive and made great music. For me the highlight was "The Band" playing "I shall be released" and Janis Joplin. But what am I talkink about...every second, every song of this movie was great.