Festival Express

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Festival Express

The movie poster
Directed by Bob Smeaton
Produced by Gavin Poolman
John Trapman
Starring Janis Joplin
Grateful Dead
The Band
Buddy Guy
Cinematography Peter Biziou
Bob Fiore
Distributed by Apollo Films
PeachTree Films
Release date(s) Toronto Film Festival:
September 9, 2003
United States
July 23, 2004
Canada:
July 30, 2004 (limited)
United Kingdom:
September 3, 2004
Running time 90 min.
Country UK/Netherlands
Language English
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Festival Express is a 2003 rockumentary film about the Trans Continental Pop Festival, a 1970 tour across Canada by some of the world's biggest rock bands, including The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, and The Band. The documentary film combines footage shot during the 1970 tour interspersed with interviews with tour participants who shared their recollections of the time.

The film was produced by Gavin Poolman (son of the original 1970 film shoot's producer, Willem Poolman) together with John Trapman, and directed by double Grammy Award-winner Bob Smeaton (The Beatles Anthology ) with music produced by Eddie Kramer (Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin), and features original footage shot in 1970 by Academy Award-winning cinematographer Peter Biziou (Mississippi Burning, Pink Floyd: The Wall, The Truman Show). A DVD release followed the film's theatrical run.

Contents

[edit] Trans Continental Pop Festival

The Trans Continental Pop Festival was unique among rock festivals, in that rather than being held in one location, it was staged in several. And, rather than flying to each city, many of the musicians traveled by a chartered Canadian National Railway train, fostering an atmosphere of musical creativity and closeness between the performers. The trips between cities were a mix of jam sessions and partying. Among the memorable scenes depicted in the film was a drunken jam session with The Band's Rick Danko, the Dead's Jerry Garcia and Janis Joplin.

By the time the festival started, there was a belief among some North American youth that large concerts like the Festival Express should be free. As at Woodstock, many young people showed up with no intention of paying the $14 admission. Despite the financial hardship this caused promoters Ken Walker, Thor Eaton, and Dave Williams, the train continued on, providing a rich environment in which the traveling bands could jam and interact.

In the film, musician Kenny Gradney, who performed with Delaney and Bonnie, said: "It was better than Woodstock, as great as Woodstock was."

[edit] Concert dates

[edit] Performers

[edit] Songs

[edit] Performed in the film

[edit] Additional songs on DVD

[edit] Other Festival Express performances

[edit] Film production

Because the Trans Continental Pop Festival turned out to be a financial disaster, plans to release the film were shelved soon after the festival. The film's reels were stored for decades in the home of producer Willem Poolman. The project to resurrect the film was started by Poolman's son, Gavin, who co-produced the film with John Trapman. Bob Smeaton, who had previously directed the The Beatles Anthology was brought aboard as director. The music tracks were remastered and produced by Eddie Kramer, former engineer for Jimi Hendrix.

The film's production was financed by United Kingdom-based Apollo Films and PeachTree Films from the Netherlands.

[edit] Release

[edit] Premieres and festivals

Festival Express had its world premiere at the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival. Other festival releases included the International Film Festival Rotterdam, Miami Film Festival, Wisconsin Film Festival, NatFilm Festival, Karlovy Vary Film Festival, Maine International Film Festival, Flanders International Film Festival, the IN-EDIT Barcelona International Music Documentary Film Festival, Hohaiyan Music Film Festival and the São Paulo International Film Festival.

The film had limited release on July 23, 2004 in the United States, as well as limited releases in Canada and the United Kingdom.

[edit] DVD release

A two-disc DVD for Region 1 was released on November 2, 2004 by New Line Home Video.

[edit] Box-office reception

The film earned $1.2 million at the US Box Office, and the DVD went straight in at number 1 on the Music Video & Concert DVD top-sellers charts at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Tower Records, etc., and has had an average customer review rating of 4.5 stars out of 5. According to Rotten Tomatoes, Festival Express was the second most critically acclaimed film released in 2004.[1]

[edit] Critical reception

 This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please improve this article if you can (May 2007).
  • “One of the great performance films of all time” - Hollywood Reporter;
  • “An instant classic” - Variety;
  • “guaranteed to thrill” - NY Times;
  • “pure, unadulterated magic” - NY Post;
  • “the wildest and woolliest ride in the history of music” - San Francisco Chronicle;
  • “One of the great rock n’ roll movies” - Chicago Tribune;
  • “An extraordinary film” – The Guardian;
  • “one of the best rockumentaries there is” – London Evening Standard;
  • “Festival Express is musical nirvana! In fact, if you're into Janis Joplin, Jerry Garcia or The Band stop reading now and run to see this film. If it's not screening in your area Fly to it, Drive to it. Get to this film because Festival Express is by far the most incredible, awe-inspiring - surreal - footage to be "discovered" in decades – Blunt Review.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Festival Express - Movie Reviews, Trailers, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes

[edit] External links


Languages