Festival Express (1970).

The Scoop:
The stretch from about 1967 to 1971 was a hotbed for innovative music, and it was the heyday of the festival concert. But it was also the heyday of the concert film, and every festival worth its name – Woodstock, Monterey Pop, Big Sur, even Altamont – had a film attached. The result of this huge archive of film, of course, is a valuable time capsule of that era. “Festival Express” is a latter-day addition to that genre.

In the summer of 1970, a short festival tour was organized across Canada, featuring the Grateful Dead, The Band, Janis Joplin, Buddy Guy, Ian & Sylvia, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Bonnie & Delaney, Sha Na Na and Mashmakhan. (Traffic and Ten Years After also were part of the tour, but don't appear in the film due to a conflict over music rights.) Everyone on the bill traveled together by train across country. It was an arrangement that was clearly a hit with the performers, who created a traveling commune, spending the long days living, eating and, most importantly, jamming together. And the film crew was there for all of it.

The tour itself was a financial disaster, not just because of the expense of the train, but also because it was dogged by protests and bad press along the way from kids who demanded that all the shows be free. The business side wound up in chaos, which is why all the film footage of the tour ended up on the shelf for more than 30 years. Which is a shame, because the footage is fantastic.

With the benefit of three decades of hindsight, director Bob Smeaton includes new interviews with the promoters and many of the performers to put the footage in context. But at times the interviews intrude too much. The film is at its best when the footage from 1970 speaks for itself. The live performances are uniformly excellent, as the musicians were obviously energized by the creative cauldron inside that train (which a couple of the interviewees describe as “heaven”). But the real treat is the train footage, which is full of great jamming from a host of talented musicians, and which also offers an extensive offstage glimpse of the people involved – something the other classic concert films of the era can’t match.

Especially poignant are the performances by Joplin. She was at the top of her game, and because she died shortly after the tour, these are among her last ever performances.

Regardless of whether you’re a fan of the era, “Festival Express” is still a must-see if you’re a fan of live music. Plus, there’s lots of rail footage too if you’re a fan of train movies, so everyone wins!

Best Bit:
The liquor run in Saskatoon.

Side Note:
The guitar used by Jerry Garcia during "C.C. Rider" is the same one that was played by George Harrison during the Beatles' rooftop farewell performance the year before.

Companion Viewing:
"Woodstock" (1970) and "Monterey Pop" (1968).

Links:
IMDb.
Official site.
DocumentaryFilms.net.

Take a Look:
The Grateful Dead perform "C.C. Rider" with Ian & Sylvia and others:


The Band doing "Slippin' and Slidin'":


Rick Danko, Janis Joplin, Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir and others jam on "Ain't No More Cane":

Celebration at Big Sur (1971).

The Scoop:
"Celebration at Big Sur" is another one of those rock festival documentaries that came in waves in the late 1960s and early 1970s. But it is one of the better ones, and definitely worth a look.

This film, much like the concert it chronicles, is a sort of mini-Woodstock. The bill featured a lot of the same music (although strictly focused on folk rock this time around), many of the same performers, and the same peace-and-love vibe. The film, too, carries a similar aesthetic as the "Woodstock" film. There are also several moments in the Big Sur festival (and film) that are conscious, or maybe not-so-conscious, looks back at that weekend at Yasgur's farm.

From 1964 to 1971, the Esalen Institute at Big Sur hosted an annual music festival, which drew the luminaries of the folk rock world. This film chronicles the sixth festival, held on Sept. 13-14, 1969, just a month after Woodstock. There are great performances from the likes of Joan Baez, John Sebastian, Crosby Stills & Nash, and Joni Mitchell, as well as scenic shots of the beautiful Northern California coast.

The relatively small size of the crowd, coupled with the fact that the musicians all perform next to a swimming pool, gives the concert the feel of a backyard party. It is this intimacy in particular that sets "Celebration at Big Sur" apart from the other hippie festival flicks, which all feature the performers onstage towering above crowds of thousands of kids.

This rarity, still sadly unavailable on DVD, is worth the effort of tracking down.

Best Bit:
Neil Young dropping in on his buddies Crosby Stills & Nash for a show-stopping version of "Down By the River."

Side Note:
This concert featured Joni Mitchell's public debut of her song "Woodstock," which was later popularized by Crosby Stills & Nash.

Companion Viewing:
"Woodstock" (1970).

Links:
IMDb.
Big Sur Festival, 1964-1971.

Take a Look:
Down by the deep end of the pool... er, I mean "Down by the River":


Joni Mitchell performs "Woodstock":


Joni and friends belt out that hippie chestnut, "Get Together":

Listening to You: The Who at the Isle of Wight (1970).

The Scoop:
A critic once said that watching Pete Townshend play the opening notes of "Pinball Wizard" was like watching John Hancock sign his name. But forget a simple autograph -- with this performance, Townshend and his bandmates wrote their manifesto.

The Who made the rounds of all the big rock festivals of the late '60s and early '70s, even turning up elsewhere on film with memorable performances in "Woodstock" and "Monterey Pop." But it's at the Isle of Wight where Townshend, Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle and Keith Moon hit their collective peak. Caught between the epic reach of 1969's "Tommy" and the power of 1971's "Who's Next," the band rips through a muscular set of early material, covers of '50s rockers and a mostly-full rendition of "Tommy."

It is brilliant, powerful, melodic stuff that could be used as a how-to guide on being a rock band.

What's more, producer/director Murray Lerner and his crew do the music justice by capturing the spirit of the performance without imposing themselves on the material. You just get The Who, unfiltered, which is what a good concert film should be.

Best Bit:
"Shakin' All Over" (originally by Johnny Kidd and the Pirates) is a barnburner to begin with, and it gets a fierce treatment here.

Side Note:
Lerner's filmography is kind of thin outside of various Isle of Wight Festival movies, but he did win an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature for "From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China" (1981).

Companion Viewing:
"Woodstock:" (1969) and "Jimi Hendrix at the Isle of Wight" (1991).

Links:
IMDb.
Isle of Wight Festival.

Take a Look:
"Young Man Blues":


"Substitute":


The finale of "Tommy":