Manchester Music Mooch explores the much-missed The Roadhouse

Oldham Street is Manchester’s vinyl spine...

The Northern Quarter is a place full of culture and madness - there's a ton of both here. On match days Stevenson Square is bonkers. In fact, it's bonkers most days. Especially if the sun's out.

The area has long been a mecca for vinyl addicts (not flooring, records) with its concentration of shops including Piccadilly Records, Vinyl Exchange, Vinyl Revival, Eastern Bloc, and the defunct Butterfly Music and Fat City Records - all within a hundred yards of each other.

It’s also a live music hotspot, home to Night & Day Café, Matt & Phreds, The Castle Hotel and Gullivers, with cracking gigs on most nights. It’s not unusual for fans to catch two or three shows in one evening.

Be sure to check out the interesting shops, such as Pop, Bags of Flavour and Fred Aldous. We wholly recommend a refreshment break in the wonderful and cute Sugar Junction on Tib Street, or Fig & Sparrow next door to Vinyl Exchange for delicious coffee 'n cake.

In a city defined by its soundtrack, Luke Una is one of Manchester’s most respected selectors. A DJ, broadcaster and lifelong record collector, he’s helped shape the city’s club culture while championing new sounds with passion and authority. More than just a DJ, Luke Una is part of Manchester’s ongoing musical story.

Watch the video to hear more about world-class DJ and broadcaster, Luke Una, as he describes the early days of Northern Quarter as we now know it.

"With Luke on the decks, Tuesday night became something that felt like Mardi Gras with crap weather."

Sheffield-born but Manchester-made, Luke found his place during the 1988 acid house explosion, digging the scene at the Haçienda club. He cut his DJ teeth with The Unabombers and their legendary Electric Chair club nights, turning forgotten basements into temples of sweat and sonic anarchy.
From there came Homoelectric, a gloriously messy, defiantly queer night that embodied the Quarter’s scrappy soul—welcoming misfits, outsiders, and anyone who just wanted to lose themselves in the music. The Northern Quarter wasn’t just his playground; it was his canvas, and Luke splashed it with every colour on the musical spectrum: cosmic jazz, Afrobeat, house, Italo disco, and whatever weird treasure he’d just dug out of a dusty crate at the Vinyl Exchange.

During the Covid times when the clubs went dark, Luke kept the Quarter’s pulse alive with hilarious Instagram rants and all-night vinyl sermons, half genius, half shambles, but always authentic.

Luke Una’s Worldwide FM show is very much an extension of his personality: unpredictable, funny, deeply eclectic, and rooted in the idea that music should make you feel.

His reach stretches from Manchester to global dancefloors via his É Soul Cultura compilations, but the Northern Quarter remains his spiritual HQ. Its dive bars, graffiti walls and record shops mirror his philosophy: inclusive, eclectic, chaotic in the best way.