The tour that inspired "Might As Well."
Somebody posted that one of the stops on this tour was his first show. I am so envious.
The movie is now out on DVD, and let's just say, you'll laugh, you'll cry, but you should not on any account miss this.
Man, was I ever blown away! It was so melodic and powerful; really took me back in time. I swear I caught a contact high! We're fortunate what film exists will now, hopefully, be preserved for our posterity to enjoyl. That week riding the rails across Canada must have been one sensational trip! Seeing Janis so relaxed, natural and seemingly carefree was great too. All in all, it was bittersweet--so many of these great artists no longer play at this venue of ours anymore. Hope we manage to score tickets for their next BIG gig together--you know, the Reunion Show with all the encores and curtain calls. Nobody will be pushing for the EXIT or in a hurry to get home from there.
This was really a wonderful movie. Hey, im only 14 but heck I stayed and watched the whole thing!!
Best movie ever!!!! :)
it is NOT a Grateful Dead production (hey, neither is Woodstock...) and one of the main reasons the release was delayed and the result is so fragmentary is that the promoters, while they treated the performers like gods, stiffed the crew bigtime, with the results that the camera guys ran off with the reels. It's something of a miracle that this was rescued at all; as I understand it the reels that were salvaged represent about a third of what was shot.
This is, of course, an oversimplification. But it is simply inaccurate to assert that the footage is in the GD vaults or that Rhino Records has jack to do with the whole thing. It's not even in the Store. And, as asserted above, while the Canadian National Film Board may have a full set, the Grateful Dead sure don't.
Hell, the Dead don't even get top billing on this. And they sure didn't call the tune.
It's still great.
I believe all the footage should be cleaned up and released on CD and DVD. I am shocked that the footage is in the GD faults and they have yet to release it. Oh yeah I forgot its probably up to Rhino records to release it. :(
been out of UK loooooong time & on return my family for first xmas back (which they know we don't celebrate) thought long 'n hard what to get me for prezzie ..lo & behold "express""..2Sorry,we recall ya like GDEAD .theres some of their stuff on it & a load of other stuff too hope its ok??" ...well, well!!SO good to see the guys havin so much fun onna train!! Funny seeing a young Kenny Gradney (Little Feat /bass) with Delaney & Bonnie at time, A real fine time seemed to be had by all & all performances ,by ALL were xcellent Burritos ROCKED (not enuff footage tho!:( ) I'd recommend this to all Deadheads catches em doin exactly what they do best playin in the band!! have fun watchin folks ..dont get much betta!! PEACE JIMI C
glad you found your way to us.
I'd drifted away from the Grateful Dead over the last dozen years since... you know, and music in general hasn't been as big a part of my life, nor has living in the past - I have grandchildren for pete'sake! Then I watched Festival Express with dear old friends, and I caught the bug again, especially with that Calgary performance of "New Speedway Boogie." Suddenly all my old Dead music was getting played again, and I then stumbled upon www.dead.net and the Taper Section etc. This led to finding an actual recording (on the internet archive) of the first show I attended (Utica NY 3-22-73) which changed my life. Insane! Now I'm head over heels back into listening to the Grateful Dead - largely due to the Festival Express DVD. Yes, it's a period piece, but what a period!
The best part for me was when they made a liquor run at the train stop in Saskatoon. The city is in a province where nobody travels to because "the prairies are so flat!" I was glad to see that my hometown was profiled for about 2 minutes with all those wonderful groovy 'lil artists!
tsss...... :)
~littlebri
Indeed it is a classic movie, But as for the "Canadian Hippies" wanting to get in for free I do belieive this was a problem of all "North American Hippies" not understanding the buisness end of the music. They all felt music should be free to listen to (get a radio then) like when the Dead would go to the park in SF and just play for everone. The train idea was fantastic as the performers said cause it let them all be together after the show for a long period, insteed of taking off in their buses to the next gig. The promoter in the movie had all the right intensions and the jam to prove it. Like telling the train company CN that he wanted the train to travel east to west and getting a full dinning car instead of just a catering car with cold sandwhichs, Or hiring more police for crowd control which was only needed for the people that thought it should be all free. But like Bob Weir said it takes a lot of money to get these bands on the road and they need to make a living too.
I never heard that the promoter stiffed the film company, but like the guy said in the movie the were hurting at the box office cause of the protests and bad press. But he kept the train a rolling for the bands and did not spare expenses for them.
Absolutely, "Ain't No More Cane" takes it for best scene. Sometimes I just watch this part for a quick smile! My next favorite is easily "The Weight". I used to think of this as sort of a forlorn, wishful song, but this performance changed my whole perception of it. I love the gritty, forceful, almost aggressive vocals, not to menion Danko's awesome facial expressions and kinda overly-pronounced words during vocals. What a character!