A Sort of Christmas Concert with Tønes and Ingvar Hovland
For 20 years, Frank ‘Tønes’ Tønnesen and Ingvar Hovland have been putting on a Christmas show. Together, they have explored the real challenges of the festive season: where should you spend Christmas Eve, who gives presents to whom, what actually counts as an acceptable Christmas tree, and is it really all right to put the decorations up in November? The answer to the last question is, of course, a resounding angelic chorus of no. The rest is knowledge Tønes and Hovland have gathered over the years and now brought together in a new concert show, with a little help from Sigfrida and Johanne.
‘This Year We’re Keeping It Simple’ is a collection of Christmas songs for those who perhaps don’t think Christmas should be about singing and concerts at all. Songs about handing over presents, cold floors, and whether the celebrations will take place at Aunt Ingeborg’s or Aunt Gerd’s. There’s also one about how the brightest star still brings hope.
Ingvar Hovland is Egersund’s very own national poet, having written lyrics for a wide range of Norwegian artists and bands. Frank Tønnesen has a unique gift for observing and conveying the everyday and the realities of life, blending subtle humour with a quietly thoughtful seriousness.
Quite a lot of people call him Tønes.
