“I finally met someone who could throw a better party than me,” exults Janis Joplin, speaking from a stage in Calgary at the end of a one-time-only, weeklong blowout.
Somebody filmed the party, as it turns out. After more than 30 years in the vaults, the footage in “Festival Express” has finally come to light. It lives up to Joplin’s description.
This feature documents a 1970 rock and roll tour that played three cities in a week: Toronto, Winnipeg, and Calgary. The roster was rock royalty: Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, The Band, the Flying Burrito Brothers, and many more.
What made the experience unique was the conception of the tour. Organizers rented a train to ferry the performers from one gig to the next, encouraging music-making and conversation (and substance-partaking) amongst the musicians.
So the movie is arranged around three performance stops, separated by scenes on the train. Using splitscreen devices – an appropriate movie cliche for the era depicted – director Bob Smeaton allows new interviews with various observers to comment on the craziness of their youth.
The stage footage, which like all the 1970 material has a raw, 16mm immediacy, is a treasure trove for rock fans. The Band contributes two stirring renditions of its signature songs, “The Weight” and “I Shall Be Released.”
Buddy Guy does a rave-up on the rock chestnut “Money,” and folksters Ian &Sylvia do “C.C. Rider.” Throwback act Sha Na Na goofs along on “Rock and Roll is Here to Stay.”
But Joplin comes out on top in this battle of the bands. Her opening scream on “Cry Baby” is enough to raise the dead, and the movie ends with her epic take on “Tell Mama.”
As riotous and raw-voiced as her stage presence is, it must also be noted that she looks pretty bad. She would die two months after the tour, her full-throttle lifestyle having caught up with her.
The impromptu train sequences are no less vivid. The Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia comes across as an imp of many hats, chiming in with any jam session going. The highlight of these is a drunken late-night singalong with Garcia and The Band’s Rick Danko boozily playing guitar as Joplin croons.
It’s a precious moment, although it’s shaded by the knowledge of how many musicians’ lives were derailed by overindulgence. And how drunk people find themselves funnier than they actually are.
The flavor of the times emerges in footage of protestors outside the concerts, demanding that such things should be free to all. The Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir, looking back at those times, has mixed feelings. “They were pathologically anti-authoritarian,” he says of the protestors. “I know, I’m that way myself.”
“Festival Express” has that kind of rueful sense of humor about itself. The only problem is, it’s too short at 90 minutes. Here’s hoping the DVD may include more performances from this rock locomotive.
Janis Joplin
“Festival Express” HHH
What a party!: A documentary of the 1970 trans-Canada tour that took Janis Joplin, The Band, and the Grateful Dead on a train ride. The performance footage is terrific, whether drawn from live stage stuff or impromptu jam sessions on the train.
Rated: R rating is for language.
Now showing: tk
“Festival Express” HHH
What a party!: A documentary of the 1970 trans-Canada tour that took Janis Joplin, The Band, and the Grateful Dead on a train ride. The performance footage is terrific, whether drawn from live stage stuff or impromptu jam sessions on the train.
Rated: R rating is for language.
Now showing: Varsity
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