August 29, 2004

Festival Express

What can I say? 90 minutes was way too short.

When was the last time you went to a movie and no one, no one left the theater until the credits were definitely all done.

Sure, it was a self selected crowd but any serious fan of late '60s early '70s music must see this. Oh, and any serious fan of rock, blues, folk, etc., will not want to miss this film. Oh yea, if you are a fan of Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead or The Band then you should go see Festival Express now.

I have money waiting for the extended version DVD.

And I have money waiting for the rest of the video material. This is some of the best concert video I have seen (and I have seen a bunch). It is raw, powerful, and it was like being face to face and mind to mind with the performers.

The Grateful Dead perform a beautiful New Speedway Boogie and the great shots of Pigpen blowin' his harp will make any Deadhead want more.

The oddest scenes in the film came from the GD material. At Toronto, the first stop, during Don't Ease Me In there are camera sweeps of the crowd showing nearly everyone sitting on their butts as if they were at the symphony. Those of you that have been to GD/Dead shows over the years know that this does not happen. Well, maybe sometimes during drumz/space. It was quite a jarring scene.

The Band's performances of The Weight and I Shall be Released are very powerful. You could tell that they meant and felt every note and every word.

No words for Janis are worthy. Cry Baby and Tell Mama well simply knock you on your ass. Go ahead, try to get back up. She'll just knock you down again. Worth triple the price of admission all by themselves.

Oh yea, the rest of the movie was great fun as well. I'd love to have a DVD just of jamming scenes from the train. The unscheduled stop in Saskatoon to replenish party fluids is a kick. And the side story about all the Canadian kids wanting to get in free is worth expanding a bit.

Update (9/2): The DVD with 50 additional minutes will be released November 2.

Posted by Steve on August 29, 2004
Comments

We've been meaning to get to this; hopefully Kim's surgery this week isn't bad and we can go over the weekend...

Posted by Scott at August 30, 2004 5:04 AM

Being from Toronto, it doesn't surprise me in the least that people had their butts glued to the chairs during a Grateful Dead show. We're rather, uh, "reserved" that way.

Posted by jen at August 30, 2004 5:06 PM

Hi Jen,

Maybe it is a Toronto thing. Scenes from the last stop had pretty much everyone on their feet dancing (though maybe the latter was toward the end of the set and the Toronto scene appeared to be the first song of the set...they may have all gotten up soon after).

Oh, and there were no chairs these folks were on the stadium floor sitting on the ground.

Posted by Steve at August 30, 2004 10:19 PM

Just saw the movie today. Probably the best concert footage of Janis I have ever seen (and I also saw her live, but unfortunately, not coherent). And the Band and Greatful Dead weren't bad either.

A must see.

Posted by Allen at August 30, 2004 11:02 PM
follow me on Twitter