Stuff You Gotta Watch: Festival Express
In the summer of 1970, a handful of America's hottest rock acts including Grateful Dead, The Band, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and Janis Joplin embarked on a train tour through Canada fueled by alcohol, drugs, and end-of-an-era hedonism. The event, initially billed as the Transcontinental Pop Festival, was thoroughly documented by a film crew so that a movie akin to Woodstock could be released later; but after the financial disaster the tour represented, the project was shelved and the footage disappeared.
Fast forward 30 years later, and Gavin Poolman, son of original producer Willem Poolman, found some of the reels in his garage and invited childhood friend John Trapman and Beatles Anthology director Bob Smeaton to look them over. In the meantime, more footage is discovered in the Canadian National Film Archives vault—and work on Festival Express begins.
Candid and with a slight touch of melancholy, the documentary is a brilliant attempt at making sense of those dizzying days that later became a symbol of a crucial turning point for counterculture: Grateful Dead were fresh out of the infamous New Orleans drug bust which would inspire their classic single “Truckin'.” The Band, having made the cover of Time magazine earlier in the year, were consolidating their heavyweight status. The Flying Burrito Brothers had just fired an increasingly intoxicated (and absent) Gram Parsons. Janis Joplin would overdose in a hotel room three months later.
Though the filmed performances showcase why these artists became legends, it's the fly-on-the-wall, behind the scenes action that turns Festival Express into such a fascinating snapshot of an era. All this is juxtaposed with present-day testimonies of promoters, musicians, journalists, and other lucky folks who lived through it all.
Review by Ana Leorne. Check out the full archive of the Stuff You Gotta Watch column.