Joplin, Janis – 1970.06.28 – Festival Express – CNE Stadium – Toronto, Canada – SBD 1CD A+

01 Tell Mama
02 Half Moon
03 Move Over
04 Maybe
05 Summertime
06 Little Girl Blue
07 That’s Rock ‘N’ Roll
08 Try (Just A Little Bit Harder)
09 Kozmic Blues
10 Piece Of My Heart
11 Cry Baby
12 Get It While You Can
13 Ball And Chain

This is the Janis Joplin show on June 28, 1970 at the CNE Stadium in
Toronto, the first city to receive the Festival Express train.

Festival Express was unique among rock festivals – rather than being
held in one location, it was staged in three – Canadian cities Toronto,
Winnipeg and Calgary during the summer of 1970. Montreal was initially
to have been the fourth city, but this concert was canceled as the date
would have coincided with St. Jean Baptiste Day, and the city felt it
couldn’t provide adequate security. The idea was that rather than flying
in to each city, the musicians would travel by chartered Canadian
National Railways train, with the hope of fostering an atmosphere of
musical creativity and closeness between the performers. The train rides
between cities ultimately became a combination of non-stop jam sessions
and partying, fueled by excess alcohol. Among the most memorable scenes
depicting these informal jam sessions is a drunken jam featuring The
Band’s Rick Danko, the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir, and
Janis Joplin.
As the festival was taking place, there was a movement amongst North
American youth centering on the notion that rock concerts should be
free. As at Woodstock, many kids showed up with no intention of paying
the $14 admission. Despite the financial hardship this caused promoters
Ken Walker and Thor Eaton, the train continued on, providing a rich
environment in which the traveling bands could jam and interact.
In 2003, a documentary film about this was released with footage both
from the concerts and aboard the train. In the film, musician Kenny
Gradney, who performed with Delaney & Bonnie, commented on the
atmosphere during the tour: “It was better than Woodstock, as great as
Woodstock was.”
The traveling show highlighted several points in the transitioning
effects of music in the post-idealism of the late 60s, as large groups
of protesters allegedly incited riots in order to get into the shows for
free, and the promoters attempted to bring a traveling festival to a
host of cities. Even the intervention of various Canadian police forces
couldn’t reconcile the resulting chaos.
While the promoters took a major financial hit, the tour was still a
success, featuring now legendary performances by the Grateful Dead, The
Band, Janis Joplin, and Buddy Guy, among others. The Dead were just
transforming their sound from dense, jammed psychedelia to the
country/folk harmonies of Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty;
The Band’s performance showed them at the very pinnacle of the their
powers; and for Joplin, this would turn out to be one of her last
performances, as she died approximately two months later.