It’s 1970, the year after Woodstock. And now, right here in Canada, another sure-to-be-epic rock festival is selling tickets via this very poster. The Trans Continental Pop Festival was a 1970 tour across Canada by some of the world’s biggest rock bands, including The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, and The Band.
It later became known as Festival Express, which is also the name of the documentary film that would eventually emerge.
The bands travelled across Canada on a private train between the gigs, which became a party / jam session of epic proportions. Some of this mayhem — along with actual concert footage — was captured on film, but not seen until Festival Express’s 2003 premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, 33 years after the original event.
I just found this poster in some old papers, and I’m very excited. Also very old, since I was at this show, in both Toronto and Calgary!!
I have several of these, and also a couple of copies of the original newsprint program for the events. I think I may just look into this whole E-Bay thing…