Big Easy Express
Yesterday evening, some of my friends and I went to the Belcourt Theatre in Hillsboro Village, right next to Vanderbilt, to attend a FREE screening of Big Easy Express, a documentary about a train tour by Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes (who played at Rites of Spring two years ago), and Nashville’s very own Old Crow Medicine Show.
The show was scheduled to start at 10:30pm, but we showed up at 9:30pm at the Belcourt Theatre in case of a long line and potentially not being able to get in. The Belcourt is a super cool theater that tends to show primarily foreign, independent, and classic films. Vanderbilt even has an awesome program with them called FlicX in which Vandy students can see selected movies for free at the Belcourt when a Vandy professor sponsors the film. It’s a great way to get exposure to all sorts of films and participate in discussions about the films afterwards. This particular free screening was not associated with Vanderbilt. Instead it was sponsored by the Belcourt and Grimey’s, a record store in Nashville. Grimey’s often has free shows of touring artists in its basement that are first come first see.
While there were people waiting outside already when we arrived and more people lined up after us, everyone who wanted to get in was able to. And good thing because it was a great movie full of music, music…and did I mention MUSIC? The documentary does exactly what it sounds like. It follows the three bands on their tour from Oakland, CA to New Orleans, LA showing their quirky fun-loving attitudes and passion for music. It culminates in a song they all wrote together on the road about “this train bound for glory.” If you like the music of any of the three bands, I highly recommend watching this movie…if not, it could be fun anyways!