Throughout all of the troubles Amy Winehouse has had, and they’ve been plenty, I have always tried to see past the drugs, drink, and general wrongdoing in her private life because of the quality of her singing. Unfortunately, even my faith in that part of her life has now been shaken.

This weekend saw The V Festival taking place jointly in Chelmsford and Stafford. Unlike Glastonbury, V is very much a pop festival, and embraces a more diverse mix of artists - one of whom was Amy Winehouse, taking part in her penultimate gig before having an extended break from performing.

The problem was that Winehouse completely failed to live up to expectations. Not only was she late for one of the sets, a lateness that got her booed by the majority of the crowd, but her performance on stage also left a lot to be discovered. If you don’t believe me, just check out these two videos from the weekend.

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After going to see The Feeling at the beginning of March, and loving it so much, me and my friends were on the lookout for the next big gig to buy tickets for and attend.

A quick search on GigsandTours.com later, and we decided to purchase tickets for the Sugababes at the Manchester Apollo on the 2nd of April.

Even though the tickets had been on sale for months, there were a few remaining, and we struck lucky.

I approached the gig with part excitement, part trepidation, as it was to be the most “Pop” concert I’ve ever been to. In fact, before this The Feeling was probably the most mainstream.

We arrived just as the girls came on stage, and they immediately had a presence which filled the venue, and drew the attention of every set of eyes watching them.

The audience was a bit of a shock to me, someone who hasn’t really attended quite so mainstream before, with a lot of young kids in attendance, one of whom fell asleep on the floor in front of me half way through the set.

The gig consisted of run-down of their greatest hits, with a few tracks from their current album thrown in for good measure. They started with Hole In The Head and Round Round before mixing it up a bit for the first of numerous occasions.

Unlike an Indie or Rock band, the Sugababes, with their lack of instruments, aside from their gorgeous voices, have to rely on more than just the music to leave punters satisfied with a good show.

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A few of us here on the b5 music channel have decided to get together and talk about our favourite gigs. I’ve been to far too many to list them all, so instead, I’ll focus on my experiences of the last year.

I have quite a broad taste in music, loving everything from Bjork and Joanna Newsome, through the Arctic Monkeys and Bloc Party, up to Megadeth and The Hives, so my gig history is kind of fragmented.

My first gig was the Stereophonics back in the day (when they were good, or at least better than they are at the moment), and that kind of set the tone for my experiences since then.

All I remember about that gig was not being able to hear anything afterwards, and wondering why. Now I’m used to it, and know that my hearing will be relatively back to normal the next day.

Since I’ve started writing Brit Music Scene, I’ve reviewed the gigs I’ve been to, except Megadeth earlier this year because I didn’t know how interested my readers would be.

For the record, it was mind-blowingly good. It was my first metal gig, and one I’ll never forget. From seeing the master, Dave Mustaine, have the crowd eating out of his hand, to getting drenched in sweat that came flying from the long haired goon standing in front of me every time he rocked out, it was an unforgettable night.

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The Feeling are a band who are never going to be cool, never going to get on the cover of NME, and never going to be the next big thing.

But you know what? None of that matters, as they put out some incredibly well written, and well composed pop songs, and after seeing them live, I know they’re fantastic in the flesh too. I’d even go as far to say they push Muse for title of Best Live Band in the UK right now.

This is actually the second time I’ve seen The Feeling live, the first being in the Manchester Apollo early last year, when the band were touring on the back of awesome début album Twelve Stops and Home.

This tour is their first since second album, Join With Us, was released last month, and if anything, they were even better this time around than last. I suppose that’s what touring constantly for a year does to you.

I entered the venue excited, and that excitement was paid back in full by a group at the absolute top of their game. From the moment they came on stage, the whole band had the crowd eating out their hand, with front man Dan Gillespie Sells being the main conductor of the 3,000 strong audience.

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Yesterday saw Amy Winehouse win five Grammy awards, to become the most successful artist at this, the 50th annual Grammies. She also sang a two song medley of Rehab and You Know I’m No Good from a London studio, after having her application for a Visa turned down until it was too late for her to make the trip.

Here, in case anyone missed it, is her performance…

She’s definitely looking better than she has for the last year or so, clean, sober, and drug free. In fact, the only thing she looks high on is the enthusiasm for being on stage, and singing in front of a crowd again. Something which has been sorely lacking of late.

Now she just needs to make 2008 a drug free year, and get back to what this proves she does best: making brilliant music.

Last June saw Muse play a weekend of massive back to back shows at the newly opened Wembley stadium. Now, to the delight of the many thousands of fans who couldn’t secure tickets for one of the shows (me included), the band are planning to release a live CD and DVD of the shows.

The twin pack will be entitled HAARP, and include a DVD featuring footage from the second night, as well as extras such as behind the scenes shorts, and a photo gallery.

The CD is a recording of the first night at the stadium, and features 13 of their biggest and best tracks.

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The Spice Girls are currently on a huge world tour, which they have spectacularly managed to sell out everywhere.

But despite the hundreds of thousands of people paying a fortune to see the reformed girl group, if you believe Geri Halliwell’s latest claim, the girls won’t make a penny from it.

The widespread belief up to now has been that the girls were offered, and accepted, millions of pounds each to get back together and embark on one last tour as a fivesome.

It’s no surprise that the girls haven’t always got on that well, so I would imagine any less than a million, and they’d have all stayed in bed instead.

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No, I wasn’t there… unfortunately, but I’ve read all I can on the fans and critics reviews, and need to give my report on how the much anticipated reunion concert went.

It’s London, it’s December 10th 2007, and it’s freezing cold, but no-one cares because the remaining members of Led Zeppelin are about to take to the stage.

It’s a dream come true for the thousands of fans who beat the odds and secured one of the hard fought tickets for the one off gig.

A Led Zeppelin reunion was once said to be less likely than a Beatles one, and that was after John Lennon had been killed, but fortunately for the 16,000 odd people present at the 02 Arena, it has happened.

I would have loved to have been there, but through a combination of very low odds, thought to be about 125/1, and a lack of money, I had no chance. Unless the band decide they liked performing together again enough that a permanent reunion is a good idea, it’s something I’ll always regret.

So how was it? Absolutely brilliant, at least according to all of the reviews I’ve read in the last 48 hours.

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The Carling brand has become synonymous in recent years with live music, the academy clubs up and down the country, and the Reading and Leeds festivals, which they have sponsored for nine years.

Today it was announced that that partnership would be ending, with both parties ending it gracefully by mutual consent.

In a statement, Festival Republic’s Melvin Benn said:

“This marks a happy turning point in the festival’s history with Reading Festival reclaiming its name after the Carling Weekend association.”

This seems a shame because Carling, rightly or wrongly, have been responsible for a definite upsurge in popularity of live gigs, and these two festivals have done well as a result.

The Reading and Leeds festivals will be going ahead as normal, over the August bank holiday weekend as always, and the details and line up are expected to be announced soon.