M for Montreal's 20th edition unfolded across the city's grittiest corners, from Foufs' beer-stained floors to the tight quarters of La Sala Rossa, where bodies pressed close and the air hung thick with anticipation. It was raw, intimate, and built for the faithful.
The weekend brought together the city's DIY spirit with the international industry delegates who've learned over two decades that Montreal doesn't just produce good bands—it produces movements. Acts like BéLi brought infectious French pop energy while Boutique Feelings twisted hip-hop into something unrecognizable and entirely compelling. Gloin delivered their post-punk noise with the kind of intensity that leaves ears ringing and crowds buzzing.
Between sets, the real work happened. Industry folks huddled in corners, scribbling notes and exchanging contacts. Music supervisors scouted for their next sync. Agents sized up who might fill rooms in Berlin or London. But the magic wasn't in the transactional moments—it was in watching those same delegates get genuinely caught up in the energy of a packed room losing its collective mind to a band nobody outside Montreal knows yet.
That's the thing about M for Montreal. It's not about discovering the next big thing so much as bearing witness to what's already happening here—the warehouse shows, the basement gigs, the relentless creative churn that makes this city impossible to replicate. The festival just puts it on a stage and lets the room do what Montreal rooms do best: make believers out of everyone inside them.
Twenty years in, the formula still works.
Day 1
Hollerado
MISC
Softtub
Day 2
Computer
Hologramme
Day 3
Billianne
Franklin Electric
