Been to Hell again

• bentehaarstad

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Of course I have been to Hell again. Every year in the beginning of September I try to visit one of the most interesting festivals, the Blues in Hell. The place is small, not much more than a rainway station, but they don’t seem to have problems attracting great musicians. Who later can tell; I have been to Hell.

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One of the most interesting artists this year, at least for me, was Sugar Pie Desanto. The 77 year singer was wild, performing with a lot of soul toghether with her Chicago band. Sugar Pie didn’t start her career yesterday. According to Wikipedia she was known for her lively performances, including wild dancing and standing back flips already in the 1960’ties. And it is still there, all of it.

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Blues in Hell offer an incredibly amount of good music in a nice environment far away from the big cities. My best experience this year was, in addition to Sugar Pie, was the American Tim Scott together with Ronnie Le Tekrø and Dr. Bekken. That was soul too, in a very different way.

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69 thoughts on “Been to Hell again”

  1. The phrase “to hell and back” kept popping into my mind with this post. This festival looks like the perfect venue and so much fun and great music. Wish I could have been there!

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  10. Great shots, Bente.
    ‘HELL’ sounds like a great place to visit at this time of year. I have to admit the town name is a bit of a mystery though.

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    1. Not exactly a town, Vicky, but a village. I googled the name: “The name Hell stems from the Old Norse word hellir, which means “overhang” or “cliff cave”. It has a more used homonym in modern Norwegian that means “luck”. The Old Norse word Hel is the same as today’s English Hell, and as a proper noun, Hel was the ruler of Hel. In modern Norwegian the word for hell is helvete.” (Wikipedia)

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      1. Thanks for that background information, Bente.

        We don’t use the word ‘village’ in Australia. It’s a word used in the UK and Europe. We call small inhabited areas in the country, ‘towns’.

        It’s quite interesting how Australia has developed the English language. Some words we use are totally British and some words American.

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      2. By the way, hopefully, you got a pingback to let you know that I referenced your post on the Norwegian elections in my latest post. I was writing about the 120th anniversary of women’s suffrage in New Zealand.

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  14. What a lively photos! Love ‘Sugar Pie Desanto’, those kind of women are my heroes. Thanks Bente! Un abrazo, Rosa

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      1. The English expression ‘Going to Hell in a handcart’ means something getting worse and worse, with no hope of stopping the decline’, although no-one longer seems to know what the significance of the handcart is.

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    1. Hell, absolutely: “The name Hell stems from the Old Norse word hellir, which means “overhang” or “cliff cave”. It has a more used homonym in modern Norwegian that means “luck”. The Old Norse word Hel is the same as today’s English Hell, and as a proper noun, Hel was the ruler of Hel. In modern Norwegian the word for hell is helvete.” (Wikipedia)

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    1. Not exactly the usual meaning. As I told Alessandro: “The name Hell stems from the Old Norse word hellir, which means “overhang” or “cliff cave”. It has a more used homonym in modern Norwegian that means “luck”. The Old Norse word Hel is the same as today’s English Hell, and as a proper noun, Hel was the ruler of Hel. In modern Norwegian the word for hell is helvete.” (Wikipedia)

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  22. So, finally I’ve come to pay you a visit again. I cannot sit too long yet, but long enough to try and go see what my blog-followers are up to. (One a day.)
    Your photo’s are great. As usual. But a visit to this particular Hell would still be hell for me now. All in good time, right?

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  28. Jag gillar alla bilderna, de har helt olika uttryck,och de berättar helt olika saker och hänger ändå väl samman. Det är tydligt att platsen är oerhört mycket trevligare än namnet låter antyda 🙂 Måste erkänna att jag är imponerad av Sugar Pie Desanto, bara bilden på henne fångade mitt intresse genast. Hon ser intressant ut!
    Härliga bilder!!!
    Trevlig helg, klem og alt godt til dae!

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  29. Hello Bente, It’s been a while since I dropped by. Reading this and seeing her pic, I have to admit that this female singer sure has a lively spirit even at her age. The rest of the photos are great too.

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  32. me, too… 2 years ago and I took a similar picture on that bridge… 🙂 Friendly greetings from Toulouse, France and good luck in all your endeavours! I miss Norway… cheers! Mélanie

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