In 1970, a specially commissioned CN train left from Toronto for Calgary with a bevy of rock stars on it, among them Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead, Buddy Guy, and The Band, drinking and jamming their way across the Canadian countryside. Thirty-four years later footage from the five-day ride has been sought out and lovingly put together.

A Canadian Woodstock, it is similar in style and look to the touchstone rock doc of the flower-power era with its split-screen editing, shaky handheld and manic zooms, but lacks the same immediacy or impact.

Woodstock had torrential rain, logistics problems, and the War in Viet Nam. Festival Express has teens demanding free access to the gigs, nostalgic modern day interviews with surviving Express riders and the problem of where to refuel the train bar (an unscheduled stop at Saskatoon, as it happens).

That said, fans of the music will appreciate that the film has been structured around the previously unseen and often raw performances. These range from impromptu jams in cramped rail cars to concert performances in Toronto, Winnipeg and Calgary, including Janice Joplin's memorably gutsy performances of "Cry Baby" and "Tell Mama", only two months before she died of a drugs overdose.