From: The Westmeath Examiner

Article: Witnness Review

Author: Unknown

Article Title: Courtney Triumphs

Also performing on Saturday was the amiable Monaghan singer Pete Courtney, a familiar face to gig goers in Mullingar via some crafty support slots, festival appearances and occasional headliners. As Declan Byrne mentioned above, Pete has put an admirable amount of work in during the past year and it paid off handsomely with not one, but two appearances at Witnness over the weekend.

His first, to a packed Witnness Café tent just as the Waterboys were finishing off a superb set on the main stage and as the rain began to fall, was nothing short of a triumph. Faced with one of the biggest crowds he's ever played to, Pete took things in his stride. Since his band consisted of, eh, a teddy bear (I kid you not) for 40 minutes or so it was just Pete, his guitar and an arsenal of great songs.

Playing solo to an up-for-it festival crowd has got to be a hard task but Courtney's natural charm and smooth tunes won them over with consummate ease. His set to savour drew mainly from his just released debut album, while stripped of their studio embellished bits and bobs, stood tall and proud. Never once did and in dedicating 'Certified' to a lady recently recovered from a serious car accident Pete had the crowd 100% on his side.

He opened with the largely instrumental 'Fairy Dance' - a piledriving acoustic toe tapper dripping with a Led Zeppelin-esque chord structure. From here on he had the crowds undivided attention. 'Fingers and Face' soon followed and with it he had the crowd nodding along knowingly.

As the rain fell outside he decided to add in some river effects to 'Abide By' which suited the occasion and the song itself, while somberly played, was one of the most moving songs heard all weekend. Then came 'Certified' and the set closed too soon with a stirring 'Please Somebody' - the opening track from his debut album and, with it's lyrics of shaky hangovers, the perfect song for a weekend long festival.

And with its conclusion he was gone, only to reappear an hour later in the Treatment tent, a special tent set up for TV purposes in the VIP area. Here Pete played a brief 3 song set, more intense than his set in the Café stage but equally as enjoyable. 'Kissing Stars' stood out in particular but it was 'Please Somebody' that perfectly captured the mood of the weekend and further added to the feeling that Pete Courtney is a name to watch out for.