Festival Express

I recommend this film not only because I am a fan of most of the people that gave performances, but the creator of the film captured footage of the performers that was exceptionally good. The "young" Grateful Dead gave a tighter performance than I had ever seen them perform live. "The Band" also surprised me. They performed very well and they too seemed tighter than when I saw them live 30-plus years ago. However, Janis stole the show. She was wonderful! You must see the movie just for her performances alone. What a trip! The in between shots of all the musicians riding on the train was fun and full of energy and a real bonus to the film (the concert footage was enough to bring me in to see the movie). If you are a fan of the 60's and you enjoy Janis Joplin and the Grateful Dead, you must see this film. The only time I felt disappointed was when the movie ended. I could easily have watched two or three more hours of concert footage.

There is nothing more to add to the other commentaries: all you want at this end of the almost perfect documentary is MORE MUSIC!! Indeed I could see the same technique used by Pennebaker, and the same groove as in "Woodstock", but this is the closest you'll ever get in these modern times to a recreation of the flower-power atmosphere!! Today we have no more Janis, no more Jerry, and the whole world just feels empty without them, now even more than before, thanks to this movie. JANIS just steals the show every time she appears in the film, but there are many other people with memorable lines and comments, so in the whole it's an amazing feast for the eyes and ears! GO AND SEE IT

I'm a little baffled by some of the comments here regarding the film making style or skill in this film. I watched the film to see Janis and the Grateful Dead and The Band -- happy, young, and exuberant, and that's exactly what I got. I even liked the footage of the promoter talking about the festival and the issues with the crowds.

ANYWAY... I recommend the DVD over the theatrical release, since everyone here seems to mention that they want to see more musical performances, and the DVD delivers. There are two DVD disks -- the movie disk and the extras disk. On the MOVIE disk, go to the menu and select "extras" and there are a dozen additional music performances from Janis, the Grateful Dead, Flying Burrito Brothers, and others. (I hear that the extras disk contains interviews with the director, but I haven't seen it). Enjoy!

I was there at the Toronto performance(s). I was inside the venue all the time and never got to see any of the hassle with the cops and the gate crashers. The first time I saw it was in this film. I must say, Altamont it was not.

I was fairly well connected from working on the fringe of the music business in Toronto at the time and I knew some of the people who were on the tour. I would have given my left arm to have been on that train but it wasn't to be.

Let me tell you... this film just comes close - but no cigar - to how it REALLY was like to be there as it happened. The performances were, for the most part, electrifying and I can confidently assure you that the audience(s) had about as good a time as the performers!

I had been exposed to the "California contingent" which was on the tour years earlier in 1967 when I was living in Berkely and hanging out at the Avalon and the Filmore. I got to see the Dead and Janice before anyone had heard of them outside of California. This tour and this film caught them at their best as far as I'm concerned. Janice and the band were KILLER! Her set alone is worth the price of the DVD.

Watching this film was, for me, like going through a time-warp and being transported back to a more carefree time when I was minus wife, kids, mortgage,etc.

Although the production values aren't up to today's Hollywood snuff, considering what the producers had to work with, that they got it this polished is miraculous. I especially liked that the producers rounded up a number of the participants to interview them and get their take on it from over thirty years later.

The only significant down-side from my point of view is that some of the performers who appeared on the tour were not in the film and, in my opinion, their performances were no less worthy of inclusion. Some of the "travelogue" shots in the film could have been dumped to make more room for the music. I suppose that certain rights issues and technical quality issues were a barrier.

Anybody who has a warm spot in their heart for the music, the bands and the ethos of that era MUST add this DVD to their collection.

I saw the film and it is great! It certainly offers a great trip back to the prolific age of the great rock festivals, and provides an interesting and candid insight into how the performers "lived and played" between concert appearances. I have also seen unreleased Festival Express footage of Alvin Lee & Ten Years After performing "Love Like A Man" and their epic version of "I Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes". Why was none of this Ten Years After performance footage included in the theatrical release film or the upcoming DVD additional performance footage? Ten Years After were certainly at their peak during that appearance at the Canadian National Expo Center date of this tour. It's a shame that such classic Ten Years After performance material was omitted!!