Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

Helloturia I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

Frances Chung Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Winifred The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

sfride67 I give this film a 10 out of 10 because it is exactly as billed--both a behind-the-scenes and in-the-audience look at three music festivals and the train rides between them and the artists who performed and the promoters who put the whole thing together. The two-disc offering is very generous, the movie and several additional concert performances on disc one and interviews and a short about the production of the movie and more on disc two. Anyone who is a fan of these artists in particular, or of the music scene of that era in general, should not miss this ride across Canada with the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, the Band, and..as they always say.."more."

LCShackley I was only 14 when these events took place. I didn't like most of the music then, I like slightly more of it now, but the point is that this movie is an amazing encapsulation of the peak of the hippie era and a lot of fun to watch. Where has this footage been hiding all these years? The director skillfully weaves the original shots (which look great, by the way, especially the colorful concert scenes) with current interviews with the surviving musicians. And after watching this film, it's a wonder that so many of them lived this long! As a musician, what I appreciated the most about it was how much this experience meant to those who participated. To be able to spend several days in a row with some of the most influential musicians of the time, hanging out, jamming informally, and sharing stories, would be a dream vacation for sure! The grateful looks on their faces as they recalled the trip says it all.The film also brings into focus the overriding silliness of the hippie years. The overuse of dangerous substances (which claimed Janis Joplin shortly after the tour), the anti-authoritarian posing (the idiot hippie ranting about "pigs," once thought daring and inflammatory, now just seems embarrassing), the greed (the audiences demanding a free concert), the REALLY BAD SHIRTLESS DANCING...yes, it's all here.And it's great to see Jerry Garcia looking so young, singing an old Gospel song about Jesus; Sneaky Pete Kleinow cutting some nice pedal steel solos; a very young, pimply, and utterly wasted Janis Joplin screeching away (never did understand how this was called "singing"); Sylvia's Tiny-Tim vibrato and comely red dress; and once again, all this very clear, colorful footage from the train, the countryside, and the concerts. If you want to see some of the big icons of 60s counter-cultural music just being themselves, check out FESTIVAL EXPRESS.

bay13 In the past thirty five years I've attended many live concerts in venues large and small, viewed countless concert videos but never have I witnessed anything to match Janis Joplin's Festival Express performances. She actually blows her backing band off the stage, astonishing, moving and untamed. I LOVED THIS MOVIE. As a document it very much captured the honesty and innocence of the times and would have carried the same impact if it had been released in the 70's, 80's or 90's. When future generations of music fans salute artists like Janis, Gerry, The Band, Buddy and the Buritto Bros the Festival Express will keep rolling on.

jfulbright Great film! "Never had such a good time in my life before".The highlight for me was a baby Bob Weir (rhythm guitarist for the Dead) chewing out a hippie for condoning violence against the Canadian police:"I talked to some of those guys, and those cops were BOSS!"He then went on to explain that one policeman had been injured so badly that he was in the hospital with a metal plate in his head because his skull had been fractured. Weir said the policeman didn't deserve that because he was only doing his job, and that the people who wanted the festival to be free were wrong because the musicians needed to make a living.People never understood that real hippies were not violent/political, and they didn't hate the police. The Haight Ashbury freaks got on well with the police, and there really weren't any problems until (get this) the "hippies" without jobs moved into the neighborhood.This film was a real joy, and it proves to the general public a couple of things:1. Hippie folk were not lazy. They were capable of extremely hard work. 2. Janis Joplin was a lot of fun, regardless of what the people in my hometown in Texas say. 3. Jerry Garcia simply wasn't built for EVER drinking alcohol. 4. That was one helluva train trip!