A dedicated music centre in the heart of Belfast, visit the Oh Yeah Music Centre to see the NI Music Exhibition and hop onboard the Belfast Music Tour Bus.
The Oh Yeah Music Centre holds the award-winning Northern Ireland Music Exhibition, the only permanent exhibition for popular music in Northern Ireland, and free to visit. Call in to learn about the iconic venues, rich musical heritage and on-going vibrant music scene in Belfast.
Belfast Music Bus Tour
Take a bus journey through the heart of this rock and roll city. Sit back, relax, and enjoy tunes and tales from Them and Van Morrison, by way of awesome guitar players, traditional and folk, to punk rock and Hollywood soundtracks.
The Belfast Music Tour is a journey across the city that reveals the music, the artists and the landscape that have brought character to the city.
The two-hour bus trip starts at the beautifully restored Ulster Hall, home to the Ulster Orchestra and also host to Led Zeppelin in 1971 for the world premiere of "Stairway to Heaven".
The tour takes in the site of the Maritime hotel, where Van Morrison and the Them made their debut in 1964. The bus then heads south to remember the amazing career of Ruby Murray. West Belfast is the home of folk dynasty the McPeake family and their timeless ballad "Wild Mountain Thyme" and also late fiddle champion Sean McGuire and Brian and Bap Kennedy. The bus then crosses the Shore Rd, former stomping ground of the flautist James Galway.
East Belfast has been celebrated in a score of Van Morrison songs - Hyndford Street and Cyprus Avenue, passing Orangefield and the six bells of St Donard's Church and also crossing through the childhood haunts of Gary Moore. Blues talent Eric Bell and songwriter David McWilliams are also appreciated en route.
The final leg of the tour takes us down Ormeau Rd, former haunt of David Holmes, who provided the soundtrack to Oceans Eleven and many other films. We pass the Belfast Waterfront, scene of a pivotal "Yes" concert in 1998 with U2 and Ash. The final moments pay tribute to the harper's convention of 1792 and the location where The Undertones recorded "Teenage Kicks" in 1978.
The tour finishes at the Oh Yeah Music Centre on Gordon Street – where visitors can take in the NI Music Exhibition.
Bus Tour Tickets
Standard ticket: £10
Concession ticket: £8
Tickets are available from the Visit Belfast Welcome Centre (9 Donegall Square North) via phone 028 9024 6609 and online at visitbelfast.com/tickets.
NI Music Exhibition
Free, open daily:
Monday - Friday 10 - 5pm
Saturday 12 - 5pm
Admission is free.
Times may change during quieter or busier times. Details will be updated on Oh Yeah website to reflect any changes.
The exhibition consists of four elements including a series of storyboards plotting the history of Northern Ireland music from folk to Snow Patrol and audio visual displays showing the likes of Them, The Undertones, Stiff Little Fingers and Gary Moore.
A ‘Legends’ series of wall displays hail the great achievers in Northern Ireland music while exhibition cases showcase some unique rock and roll memorabilia, including the Fender guitar that Gary Lightbody from Snow Patrol used to write ‘Run’ and ‘Chasing Cars’, a vintage street sign of Cyprus Avenue, made famous in a Van Morrison song, and a specially arranged exhibit of Gary Moore memorabilia kindly donated by his family.