The second MMN of the summer commenced at the Grand Phantom's house on June 12, 2012 for a viewing of Festival Express.
Festival Express offers a look into an ill-fated tour of classic rock artists across Canada in 1970. Notable artists include the Grateful Dead, The Band, Buddy Guy, Janis Joplin and Sha Na Na (Traffic was also included in the tour but was not in the movie due to contractual obligations).
The tour was plagued with bad vibes almost from the beginning, as Canadian youth protested the "outrageous" ticket price of 10-12 dollars. Gatecrashing and empty seats were rampant. Finally, it seemed the artists began having more fun on the train rides between stops than actually performing in the concerts.
Some highlights for me included an impromptu jam session between several artists in route to one show, as well as a drunken, improvisational performance between Joplin and the Band's Rick Danko, accompanied by Jerry Garcia on guitar. Also entertaining was the train's emergency stop after running out of booze, the artists consolidating their money and literally buying the place out.
Oddly enough, in this viewer's opinion, the film concentrated more on the concert performances (which, while good, were nothing that haven't been seen before) and less on the party taking place on the train ride. As a group, discussion centered on the merits of sleeping with Janis Joplin, the entitlement of hippies / Canadian youths / Baby boomers, the "good ol days" of festivals free of massive corporate involvement, the coolness of the Dead, and the relative obscurity of this event - all of us music fans had either not heard of this tour or just barely heard of it in passing.
Gentlemen, feel free to add your thoughts in the comments.
Excelsior!
You know what. I did not like Festival Express. I liked the concept, the music was above fair, and the musicians were pretty good. The entire concept did not jive (jibe?) with me. I was disappointed by the portrayal of this music festival as a failure. I mean, it was a failure both financially and musically. The few shows documented were riddled with controversy and protest. How long can you watch a bunch of whining Canadians complain about how it's their right to get free music from struggling musicians just because some other musicians put on a free show.
ReplyDeleteI liked, and we discussed this post-performance, the Train Jam. I would say this documentary was 75% failed festival and 25% Train Jam. Were those percentages reversed, the entire presentation would have been more worthwhile. Superior musicians at the top of their respective games and pre-megastardom sitting around wasted out of their gourds improvising gritty folksy blues rock? Sign me up.