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Festival Express

Posted by jamesgarvin (A) on December 28, 2005 at 15:58:34

I always like combining two interests: films and music. This film has been discussed a little here. A brief recap: in 1970, following on the heals of Woodstock, Ken Walker organizes and promotes a series of concerts, wherein the musicians will travel by train from East to West across Canada, making five stops along the way. He rents the train, setting up instruments in one car, and hires security personnel. Musicians include The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Band, Buddy Guy, The Flying Burrito Brothers, some lesser known bands, and of course, Sha Na Na.

The trip was filmed, and presumably the material was not previously released. I certainly have not seen it elsewhere. The musicians do not discuss music or influences per se, and the viewer does not learn anything deep about these musicians, their thoughts, the creative process, or their lives. The purpose of the film is to take the viewer into the train, and show us how these folks spent their free time, of which there was much, and how they interacted with each other. On this level, the film succeeds tremendously. There is also very little commentary from the talking heads about how profound this trip was, or describing what took place. Why describe it when you can simply watch it?

It is fun to watch Janis Joplin, Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, and the bassist from The Band (I do not know his name) engage in an impromptu jam. Buddy Guy relates that he did not sleep on the bus because with so much music played on the train, he was afraid he would miss something if he slept. Janis Joplin and Jerry Garcia related after the tour that they never had so much fun performing. Another musician, I do not know who, commented that with most concerts, such as Woodstock, the bands played their set, then left, never being able to interact with the other bands. This experience was unique to them in that they lived with each other for the few weeks that the tour lasted.

There were some highlights for me. Apparently, Woodstock created a feeling among the youth that this was their music, and the concert should be free. At the first stop, there were people attempting to jump over the fence. Despite the promoter explaining to the kids that this show costs money to put on, the kids minds were not changed. Enter police. In order to quell the riot, the Grateful Dead agreed to play a free set at a nearby park. On the train, Phil Lesh was talking with a young reporter who maintained that the police were beating up the kids. She subscribed to the notion that the "pigs", a term frequently used, were beating these helpless fans. To my surprise, Phil Lesh calmly told her that the kids were rioters, that he observed a police officer whose skull had been bashed open, that he spoke to several police officers and that they were good people with families, that these kids were rioters, nothing more or less, and that the bands deserved to make a living and these kids were not entitled to a free concert.

The rest of the tour was met with the same demonstrating. Kids demanding that the concert be free. The promoter commented that the fans did not deserve what he organized. He was right. Can anyone imagine music fans arguing today they should be entitled to free concerts? I still cannot understand why anyone with a brain (albeit a brain with undoubtedly numerous substances) felt they were entitled to a free concert. While many may admire some of the philosophies of the "love" generation, it is painfully obvious that the entitlement movement was in full swing, and they were it. They believed they had a right to free music, and the musicians a responsibility to provide it to them. The height of arrogance.

There was a band called Mashmakhan, previously unknown by me, that played an instrumental that can only be described as acid jazz. Whether that style is representative of their music, I do not know. That is not that significant. However, I learn that most of the members went on to form April Wine (Just between You and Me). Now, that was a surprise. Time to pull out those old album covers.

The music? Well, it is at the center of the film. Not only on the train, where they are mostly playing music (and probably some things that could not be shown), but also on the concerts. While there is not a lot of concert footage, thankfully there is also no editing. We see songs performed in their entirety. Without an exact count, the aforementioned Mashmakhan tune, one by Buddy Guy, three by the Grateful dead, two each by Janis Joplin and The Band, one by, I believe, the Flying Burrito Brothers, one by Ian and Sylvia, and one by Sha Na Na.

If you like these groups, you will like this film. Sobering thought, though, that less than three months after this was filmed, Janis Joplin was dead. Very recommended.

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