Manchester Music Tours
Carmel Smickersgill, Tours & Activities Editor
Manchester is famous for many things but by far one of its biggest influences on the world, has been its music. From the background of a working city, bands such as New Order, The Smiths, Happy Mondays, The Stone Roses, Oasis, The Courteeners and Everything Everything (to name just a few) have found creative inspiration and a place that provides fertile ground for electric collaborations and international fame. Join Manchester Music Tours to explore the marks these great artists have left on the city.
For the die hard fans, we recommend one of the band specific tours. Choose between The Smiths, Joy Division, Oasis and The Stone Roses and spend 3 hours visiting the places each band hung out in, drew inspiration from or have influenced in ways that can still be seen today. On The Smiths tour you’ll visit the infamous Salford Lads Club, Strangeways Prison – which was the inspiration for the album title “Strangeways here we come”.
On the Joy division tour you’ll call by the Hacienda, Manchester’s most notorious night club as well as recreating Kevin Cummings’ iconic photography on the Epping Walk Bridge. While venturing into Oasis’ past, you’ll visit the venue where the band rehearsed and performed their first gig. Alternatively you can visit the site of Granada Studios, the place where The Stone Roses performed their TV debut with Tony Wilson.
If you’re after a more general overview of how this city has shaped so much great music, try Manchester Music Tour’s Special Tour. This is a four hour bumper edition that lets you fully immerse yourself in a city which breeds creativity and has helped generate iconic songs that will capture a particular moment and place in time forever.
The tours are the legacy of Inspiral Carpets drummer Craig Gill, his passion for the history and musical culture of Manchester is what’s lead to them being the successful and insightful experiences they are today. Tours take place every Saturday starting at Vinyl Revival in the Northern Quarter, you can arrive from 10:45 onwards for an 11am start. Check the Manchester Music Tours website to find out which specific tour is running on each Saturday.
