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Comment
06/24/06
Festival Express (2004)
96 %
Reviews Counted: 74 Fresh: 71 Rotten:3 Average Rating: 7.6/10
Consensus:
Festival Express is a spellbinding documentary that nostalgically chronicles five days in the summer of 1970, when a train full of now- legendary rock perfomers jammed its way across Canada.
Runtime: 90 mins
Synopsis: In 1970, a train journeyed across Canada carrying some of the greatest rock bands of the time. Janis Joplin, The Band, The Grateful Dead, Delaney & Bonnie, Buddy Guy, Ian & Sylvia and others lived (and partied) together for five days, giving concerts where and when they stopped. The train was... [More]
Genre: Musical & Performing Arts
Starring: Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Band, Ian & Sylvia, Buddy Guy
Reviews
Top Critic
The road doc format's nothing new, but it preserves such a brief, precious moment in rock history that it'll have fans captivated.
09/04/04
Top Critic
It emerges as one of the last howls of defiance from the counter-culture decade, made all the more poignant by the fact that many of those involved are no longer around to remember it.
08/24/04
Top Critic
A clever look at the period, even if it does slightly sidestep the politics.
03/16/04
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07/22/08
Top Critic
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05/26/06
A good snapshot of an earlier, simpler, more innocent time that seems now even longer ago than it was.
02/01/05
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12/19/04
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11/19/04
The music was fabulous--a reason enough to cherish this first-rate documentary.
11/17/04
Both drive-thru snapshot travelogue of nomad alternative culture, and one-of-a-kind caught moments of intimate jam sessions.
11/04/04
It captures a pure moment in time when musical hearts and minds beat as one, when musicians of all stripes came together to work and play hard and leave behind one damn fine-looking corpse.
10/19/04
Divided between time-capsule concert footage ... and backward-glancing interviews - alas, not enough of the former and too much of the latter.
10/08/04
A fascinating, tuneful excursion into the Woodstock Nation, circa 1970.
09/24/04
A rock 'n' roll time capsule that may be the final, great chronicle of the musical brilliance of the late 1960s.
09/24/04
A remarkable cultural document that captures the circus-like atmosphere and the raw and immediate quality of the performances.
09/23/04
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