Just rented this DVD. If ever there were a document to explode the myth that musicianship was better in the 60s, or that hippies were cool in any way, this movie is it.
The Band created some of my favorite music ever, and here they are OK, the Grateful Dead are workmanlike, Janis Joplin, while not exactly in tune, performs a riveting rendition of "Cry Baby"- raw and desperate.
The rest of 'em, well, the Buddy Guy Band is unlistenable, as are Ian and Sylvia and just about everyone else on that train. The DVD extras are particularly horrible- Eric Andersen, Tom Rush, Mashmakhan- godawful stuff.
I was struck by the lack of musical innovation and the over reliance on the I-IV-V chord progression. This was 1970, and I couldn't help but compare this to the kind of rock and roll being created in the UK at the time. In hindsight, the Brits seemed decades ahead.
The stupid hippies in the audience, with their illogical sense of entitlement, balk at paying $14 for a days worth of music. Love and peace be damned, they riot and crack skulls over the cost.
Not an enjoyable musical experience, but an interesting example of how nostalgia distorts reality.
Festival Express- hippies suck
-
- KVRAF
- 1927 posts since 30 Oct, 2003 from Frolicking in Dirac's Ocean
awe, c'mon...Danko and Joplin singing "ain't no more cane" completely zonked out of their minds was priceless...at least worth the price of the disk
-
- KVRAF
- 1981 posts since 26 Oct, 2003 from Toronto
I like hippies about as much as Mary Woronov, but have to say Festival Express is one of the most 'honest' films to caputre the 60's essence IMO. 
I was paying more attention to that beautiful Canadian National train anyways to notice any descrepencies about musicianship.
I was paying more attention to that beautiful Canadian National train anyways to notice any descrepencies about musicianship.
-
- Banned
- 12367 posts since 30 Apr, 2002 from i might peeramid
erm.. that ain't nostalgia, it's *state sponsored religion*Cordelia wrote:.. an interesting example of how nostalgia distorts reality.
f**k me, you want evidence.. howsabout taking a son of a bitch who f**king steals an election and coups the world's greatest military power nation, uses it to line his pockets then he gets another 4 years.. there's some "nostalgia" at work
oh yeh, the 60's.. fuzz.. well.. somethnig's gotta be gloious around here.. it can't all be bad.. let's pick somethnig so we can stop caring!
rock n roll..
UH.
you come and go, you come and go. amitabha neither a follower nor a leader be tagore "where roads are made i lose my way" where there is certainty, consideration is absent.
-
- KVRian
- 1258 posts since 25 Nov, 2003 from London
Check out 1967's Monterey Pop Festival (which IMO is awesome).
Then watch 1969's Woodstock - two years of serious drug abuse has had a seriously detrimental effect. By 1970, they were even worse, and half of them were about to drop dead.
The list of Monterrey performers who are no longer with us is staggering:
Jimi Hendrix
Janis Joplin
Otis Redding
Alan Wilson (Canned Heat)
Keith Moon
Mama Cass
Brian Jones (didn't perform, but was at the gig)
Then watch 1969's Woodstock - two years of serious drug abuse has had a seriously detrimental effect. By 1970, they were even worse, and half of them were about to drop dead.
The list of Monterrey performers who are no longer with us is staggering:
Jimi Hendrix
Janis Joplin
Otis Redding
Alan Wilson (Canned Heat)
Keith Moon
Mama Cass
Brian Jones (didn't perform, but was at the gig)
-
- KVRAF
- 7316 posts since 7 Mar, 2003
But do they still rock over 40 years after listening to their work? YES!speccyteccy wrote:Check out 1967's Monterey Pop Festival (which IMO is awesome).
Then watch 1969's Woodstock - two years of serious drug abuse has had a seriously detrimental effect. By 1970, they were even worse, and half of them were about to drop dead.
The list of Monterrey performers who are no longer with us is staggering:
Jimi Hendrix
Janis Joplin
Otis Redding
Alan Wilson (Canned Heat)
Keith Moon
Mama Cass
Brian Jones (didn't perform, but was at the gig)
How many bands/artists around now will have that entitlement?
My Youtube Channel - Wires Dream Disasters
-
- Tunesmith
- 2889 posts since 12 Mar, 2002 from Toronto
I liked when the Festival Express train stopped off and cleared out a liquor store, and just continued.
It was a fun documentary, and it provided a lot of music on top of great story telling.
Who could bash Buddy Guy in this? it was fun for me to see him with some youth to him, although he never lost his youth from those huge stadium shows that i saw like 6-8 years ago.
If you want to compare this festival express hippy scene to something more recent you should check out Bittersweet Motel which is about the Phish experience. When they broke up last year lead guitarist Trey goes almost as far as blaming the end of the band on the twisted hippy party scene where people were there to do drugs more than enjoy the music.
It was a fun documentary, and it provided a lot of music on top of great story telling.
Who could bash Buddy Guy in this? it was fun for me to see him with some youth to him, although he never lost his youth from those huge stadium shows that i saw like 6-8 years ago.
If you want to compare this festival express hippy scene to something more recent you should check out Bittersweet Motel which is about the Phish experience. When they broke up last year lead guitarist Trey goes almost as far as blaming the end of the band on the twisted hippy party scene where people were there to do drugs more than enjoy the music.