Festival Express
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Movie Reviews of Festival Express
Movie Review: Festival Express is a rocking good time
Summary: 5 Stars
I, for one, am very glad that some documentarians decided to take this decades-old footage off the shelves and cut it together. Festival Express takes the viewer on the train ride of a lifetime with Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead, The Band, Buddy Guy, and many other musical acts that I am not as familiar with because I was born in 1983...
Anyway, the behind the scenes footage of these great musicians partying and making music together for a week as they ride across Canada and stop in various places to put on concerts is amazing, as is the concert footage itself.
The real story on display here is the difference between what the public saw as a catastrophic monetary failure, and what the artists saw as one of the greatest tours of their lives. Protesters in each city the tour stopped at were demanding to be let in for free, which slowed ticket sales and made the tour a huge money loss for the producers. But instead of throwing in the towell, they decided to keep the train going and see the thing through. Almost 40 years later, I'm glad they did.
The extensive extras include live coverage of many more performances not included in the actual film. This DVD is gold if you like any of these performances, and really even if you've never heard of them.
Movie Review: Festival Express
Summary: 5 Stars
I went to see this time piece two nights in a row at the local theatre. I laughed, I cried, and along with the rest of the audience on both nights I cheered at the end of some of the performances, including the very end of the film. I had positive energy for a good week after. It was sometimes hard to look up at Janis in her superimposed shots, cause it was so powerful and passionate with the thought of her being cut out of all of our lives not long after that footage was taken. I thought what a gift to see this rare and spellbinding performance. Her time was way too brief and fleeting. And then what a suprize by a very young looking Buddy Guy, I had no Idea the stretch of his musicality. And Jerry Garcia, in the summer of 2005 it will be ten years since Jerrys passing, Still seems like yesterday, and I got a little choked up a few times just seeing his young sparkling personality. Jerry was and still is such a talented and cool personality. It reminded me how short life can be in certain perspectives, Not only Janis but Jerry too. I am looking so forward to getting my DVD in the next few days, not to mention I was happy to see it released already.Movie Review: THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD
Summary: 5 Stars
America had it's Woodstock and Canada had it's, well ... train. A train carrying the likes of Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead, The Band, and many other significant 60s rock and roll icons, on a cross-country three concert stop through Canada. It is amazing that this film was ever dormant or lost, as it is a historic and artistic documentation of powerhouse musical forces performing together on stage and partying and jamming in a coach car on a train for the sheer joy ot it. To see Janis Joplin plopped among these festive partyers, singing like she was just another hippie roadie or to watch mild mannered, reserved Jerry Garcia, like he was just another guy on a train with an incredible talent on guitar, is a reward no true rock and roll fan can be without. The concerts, made all the more dramatic by the social politics of the day, are moving testements to the magnificance of these performers, and the DVD extra performances are just as wonderful. Woe to those who apparently were on the train and refused to give permission ( New Riders of The Purple Sage ) to participate in this fantastic journey. It's the spirit of rock and roll, brother!Movie Review: A perfect "snapshot" of Rock's Golden Era
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
Movie Review: THIS FILM IS NOT LONG ENOUGH!
Summary: 5 Stars
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.