Manchester Music Tours

Carmel Smickersgill, Tours & Activities Editor

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Manchester Music Tours

Vinyl Revival, Manchester
7 May-25 June 2022

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

Manchester music tours
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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.

Where to go near Manchester Music Tours

Manchester
Bar or Pub
Affleck & Brown

Affleck & Brown is a bar in Manchester’s Northern Quarter. Housed in the Smithfield building which was once the location of the Victorian department store of the same name. Enjoy cocktails, beers, wines and coffee.

Manchester
Shop
Northern Flower

This small shop has “Northern Quarter” stamped all over it, from its “potting shed”-feel to its bunting for sale and unusual selection of potted-up plants.

Sugar Junction, Northern Quarter Manchester.
Manchester
Café or Coffee Shop
Sugar Junction

A Northern Quarter tea room with a vintage flavour. Dining out in Manchester? One of our fave places for afternoon tea is the retro-styled Sugar Junction

Evuna in Manchester's Northern Quarter
Manchester
Restaurant
Evuna Northern Quarter

Somehow the only tapas bar in the Northern Quarter, Evuna is where it’s at for traditional Spanish grub and damn fine drinks.

Manchester
Selina NQ1

Selina NQ1 is a creative and charming yet sophisticated hotel in the heart of Manchester’s Northern Quarter.

Image of Pop Boutique's shop front on Oldham Street in Manchester
Manchester
Shop
Pop Boutique Manchester

One of the oldest vintage shops in the Northern Quarter (opened here in 1994), Pop is set out across two floors and racks up a cafe, barber’s and basement furniture section, as well as its own label and good-as-new originals – all for very reasonable prices.

Manchester
Shop
Barbarella

Barbarella is a barber shop and part of the long-standing Pop Boutique vintage shop.

Manchester
Restaurant
Nibble

Independent cafe in Manchester’s bustling Northern Quarter. Perfect if you’re looking for high-quality homemade produce.

Beermoth shop in Manchester's Northern Quarter.
Manchester
Shop
Beermoth

Beermoth on Manchester’s Tib Street stocks specialist beers, chosen with a quietly confident knowledge.

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