WOODSTOCK on wheels — that, presumably, was the theory behind this travelling music festival, which played at three cities in Canada in 1970. Big names such as Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, the Band and Buddy Guy and addled hangers-on were shepherded on to a customised express train between gigs — the Festival Express of the title — and it is there, unsurprisingly, that the party really kicked off.

Although predominantly made up of concert footage, this documentary is most effective as a brief window into an era. It captures the bitter aftertaste of a counter-cultural movement gone stale, the moment when the hippies realised that making love not war was all very well, but bludgeoning policemen with sticks was actually kind of fun.

The promoters pushed out the boat in terms of looking after their talent (“I want decent sandwiches! Not spam!” says one of the organisers), and that is one reason that the event haemorrhaged money throughout. The main reason, however, is that hippy audiences decided that entry to the festival should be free. It’s hard to imagine today’s business-savvy performers doing anything other than laugh derisively at fans who decided they didn’t feel like paying for tickets. But back then, the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia was called upon to say a few words to the rioting kids and came up with the inspiring idea of “half an hour of coolness, to figure out an alternative to all this hassle”. Bless.

To fully enjoy this film, you need to be a fan of some or all of the bands on offer, although Janis Joplin’s charismatic presence is undeniable whether or not her primal blues voice is to your taste. I personally sympathise with the unfortunate chap having what looks like a very bad trip while stuck in the middle of a 13-hour noodling guitar jam by men with hand-woven beards. His body language screams, “For the love of Christ, make it stop”.

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