It’s a rare week where a lowkey set at Toscadura can feel as consequential as a headliner at L’Olympia, where booking agents and band kids share the same poutine line, and where the city’s eternally scrappy, genre-blurring scene reminds everyone why so many breakout stories start here. 

For its 20th edition, M For Montreal didn’t just throw itself a party—it doubled down on everything that’s made it essential: discovery, ambition, and that distinctly Montreal alchemy of sincerity and fun that somehow, time after time, produces magic. Here are five things the festival got undeniably right this year.

No Genre Left Behind

Virginie B

If there’s one thing about M for Montreal this year that felt unmistakably true to its roots, it’s how the lineup was a masterclass in musical pluralism. One minute I was indulging in Virginie B’s chaotic mix of hyper-pop and jazz, the next, nodding along to BADBADNOTGOOD’s instrumental catharsis. Somewhere in between, Angine de Poitrine was twisting math-rock into something almost unrecognizable, while Boutique Feelings did his own thing in a tiny room that somehow felt like the centre of the festival. You can’t stay in one lane at M—every showcase had something worth seeing, and every artist reminded me that it’s about exploring, not following the crowd.

Old Favourites, New Discoveries

Choses Sauvages

There’s something powerful about how M mixes the familiar and the up-and-coming. On one hand, psych‑rock veterans The Besnard Lakes returned to the city, full circle and maybe a little wiser this time. Newer voices like Chiara Savasta and Choses Sauvages brought dance-punk energy that felt perfectly curated for this exact moment. Afternoon Bike Ride brought an ethereal, lo-fi, alternative sound that felt like it was made for late-night walks through the Plateau, and Original Gros Bonnet, a local alt‑hip-hop crew, emphasized how rooted M is in Montreal’s underground while still looking out. It’s a careful balance: honouring the artists who built M’s legacy, while simultaneously pushing hard for discovery. That mix is what keeps the festival feeling grounded and on the pulse. 

All Roads Lead to Sound

Computer

Saint-Laurent has never been this loud. Music spills from bars, basements, and random storefronts like the city itself forgot to keep its volume down. Walk a block and you’re caught between a jazz trio, a punk set, and someone tinkering with synths in a tiny window—choose your adventure, or just let the streets pick for you. Day turns to night and the city doesn’t sleep; it just keeps playing, daring you to keep up.

Networking Without The Fluff

M For Montreal Artistic Director, Mikey Rishwain.

One of the things that the festival’s Artistic Director, Mikey Rishwain, made very clear when I talked to him: M’s not about stiff, “suit-forward” power lunches. They lean into casual dinners and cocktail tables—real chances to connect, not pretend to network. At the All Together Now dinner (Nov. 20), each table was curated around who people actually want to meet. According to Rishwain, this approach was intentional: less posturing, more “just people making real, honest connections.”

That kind of space matters—when the industry side feels like part of the festival, not a separate boardroom. Here, you trade more than business cards: you walk out with new conversations, fresh ideas, maybe even a friend or two.

The Grit Wasn’t Lost in the Growth

Annie-Claude Deschênes

20 years in, M could have gone shiny and safe, but this year proved that it hasn’t forgotten the edges that made it essential. Sure, there are bigger venues and more stages than ever, but the festival still feels scrappy, unpredictable, and alive. You can wander into a tiny room like  off of Saint-Denis and stumble on a set in a dive bar like L’Escogriffe that blows everything else out of the water, like Calgary’s Sargeant X Comrade, or catch a seasoned act like Annie-Claude Deschênes doing things slightly off-script because, well, that’s what her live show thrives on.

Growth for M over the last two decades didn’t smooth out the corners—it just made them more fun to bump into. 

Sargeant X Comrade