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Festival Express (2003) More at IMDbPro »

3 items from 2012

24 June 2012 7:54 AM, PDT | Filmmaker Magazine - Blog | See recent Filmmaker Magazine news »

In Big Easy Express, director Emmett Malloy documents a tour by three cult-favorite indie-folk bands: Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros, Old Crow Medicine Show, and Mumford & Sons. But the free-wheeling travelogue that develops is equal parts itinerant jam, extended family picnic, and traveling carnival, with Malloy and his crew as the cinematic roustabouts getting it all down for posterity. The film follows the three bands from Oakland to New Orleans, giving us a glimpse not only of their concerts but of their camaraderie as they live and travel on a train together, sharing songs, time, and experiences, and ultimately becoming more like a troupe of old-time troubadours than a batch of independent acts.

The main precedent for Big Easy Express is the 2003 documentary Festival Express, about a similar 1970 train tour featuring The Band, The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, and others. Big Easy Express feels like the 21st century torch-carrier »

- Jim Allen

8 May 2012 8:45 AM, PDT | avclub.com | See recent The AV Club news »

In 1970, The Grateful Dead, The Band, Janis Joplin, and a handful of other rock bands set out on their own chartered locomotive to play a few dates across Canada. The tour was immortalized with the 2003 doc Festival Express, which someone apparently told Spin-certified guitar god Skrillex about because now he, Diplo, and Grimes are riding the rails across the 49th parallel this summer with their own Full Flex Express Tour. The tour kicks of July 13 at Fort York in Toronto, and then rolls down the line to the Pne Coliseum in Vancouver.  According to Pitchfork, Full »

6 January 2012 11:34 AM, PST | The Film Stage | See recent The Film Stage news »

A unique documentary of the seminal American rock band the Grateful Dead is on its way, centered around a 3-hour conversation with late lead guitarist Jerry Garcia, which was shot in 1987 at the peak of the band’s success. [Deadline]

Celebrated music documentarian Malcolm Leo shot the interview on negative film, complete with studio-quality lighting and production sound. Veteran talent manager John Hartmann (brother of late SNL alum Phil Hartmann) will co-produce the doc with Leo for their Leo/Hartmann Productions shingle. Leo intends to combine the interview with “an unprecedented amount of never-before-seen performances, documentary footage, and rare home movies.”

The pedigree of the filmmakers is top-notch: Leo previously worked on films about Elvis Presley, Crosby Stills & Nash and The Beach Boys. Hartmann’s resume includes stints as personal manager for Peter, Paul & Mary, The Eagles, Cs&N, Poco, America, and others. The duo are finalizing financing and distribution with »

- jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)

3 items from 2012