Northern Quarters: Sunderland city centre bar reopens as live music venue after £60,000 refit

Northern Quarters opens above Legacy in Park Lane this weekend as a platform for local and emerging bands to showcase their talents.

Around £60,000 has been invested in repairing and renovating the venue’s roof and its upstairs room, which was once a popular live music venue in its former guise as Pure.

Miles Craigs, who took over the site’s lease last year, said: “The upstairs was derelict when we took over the venue.

“We wanted to put the emphasis back on live music and indie. We’ve started holding beer and music festivals downstairs, which have down gone really well.

“We’re also really busy on rock nights on Thursdays, so this year we thought we’d really go with it by opening Northern Quarters upstairs.”

Starting from this weekend, there will be acoustic nights on Fridays and a live bands night on Saturdays where acts can perform covers or original music.

“There are also plans in the pipeline to start an open mic night.

Miles added: “I chose the site because of its location and the whole idea was to make it a two-floor operation. We’re a smaller venue than some of the other stages in the city, but we think it’s a great platform for local bands and we’d be really interested in hearing from bands who want to perform.”

The first act to perform on the live music nights are Capital Red on Saturday, supported by RMXS, followed by rock DJs. Doors open from 8pm. Entry is free.

There is also another beer and music festival taking place across the Easter Bank Holiday.