Festival Express

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Dave S Bob Weir from the Grateful Dead sums up the Festival Express experience best when he says “this train was not for sleeping. It was for a lot of other things, but not for sleeping.” In the summer of ’70, a bunch of music and cultural icons (The Dead, Janis Joplin, The Band, and many more) performed in Toronto and then hopped on a CN train, travelling to Winnipeg and Calgary for additional shows. While the festival footage is great with fantastic song selections and performances, what makes the documentary so special is the footage from the train, where the participants party and jam seemingly non-stop for a solid week. The only thing more fun than watching Festival Express would have been to be on the Festival Express. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 07/25/25 Full Review Audience Member Unbelievable raw time capsule of what happened to the rock n' roll party post-sixties. What happened traveling on the train to and from the shows was the show you wanted to get tickets to, not what happened in the stadiums. You also get a glimpse at the party starting to close out. You understand why Janis Joplin was losing her voice after you watch her and Rick Danko (The Band) drunkenly flirting through song, while Jerry Garcia tries to slip in there with his, I've always loved you, Janis! There's a little sadness in this one as it's a closing of an era, you see the stars haggling with their fans of 60s philosophy to pay to get into the stadiums, instead of embracing all that freedom and love. There's definitely a clashing here of what the dream was, and the pitfalls of the music industry. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Audience Member one of the finest concert movies from the 70s great music and 70s vibe ! Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Audience Member Never a dull moment on two fun-packed discs. The only traveling festival ever was both a massive failure and a massive success. This, BTW started just 5 weeks after my first Dead show. Owned. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review Audience Member I had never heard of this festival tour until I saw the DVD for sale at my local DVD shop. I bought it on instinct, pessimistically expecting a low-budget, partly black-and-white montage with too many stills, but was fortunately captivated by this great, fly-on-the-wall look at what has to be one of the most exciting tours in history. It's all in colour, and there is also amazing sound; somewhat a necessity for capturing the on-stage performances of the great American bands of the time. Moreover, there's a large amount of bonus material, including concert footage of some of the lesser known artists who had the opportunity of a lifetime to play on the same bill as Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead and the Band, as well as jam with them on this rail-trip of a lifetime. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/26/23 Full Review Audience Member trip out and flashback, man. this movie is far out. i wish i was there. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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