Festival Express

The Festival Express tour was intended as a kind of "travelling Woodstock" bringing peace and love and flower power to Canada in the summer of 1970.

A pair of 22-year-old Canadian entrepreneurs, Ken Walker and Thor Eaton (the latter's family owned one of Canada's most successful department store chains), chartered a train to take top bands of the time such as Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead, The Band, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and musicians such as Buddy Guy across the country. The tour was a financial disaster that never realized its aspirations but for anyone interested in the times this is a treat with Janis Joplin in full flight on Cry Baby (a mere three months later she would die of an overdose with  the vibe that this film captures so well pretty much dead with her) and plenty of footage of the all-night booze parties and jam sessions on the train interspersed with present day reflections from some of the survivors of the era.

Most of the film consists of songs from the concerts, with fans of The Dead and The Band being well served with their stage numbers and some fascinating footage of on-the-train jam sessions including a drunken Rick Danko singing "Ain't No More Cane" with help from Joplin, Garcia, and Bob Weir.

 

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