Can’t-miss Montréal concerts heading into 2026

Fall concerts

The Mumfords re-emerge

British folk rock juggernaut Mumford & Sons break a lengthy period of relative silence with their just-released, seven-years-in-the-making full-length, Rushmere. The album is named for the Wimbledon Common Pub where “it all began,” and sees the mega-group performing as a trio after guitarist/banjoist Winston Marshall’s exit from the band in 2021. The Mumford & Sons Rushmere tour will folk up the Bell Centre on October 17 with British singer/songwriter Michael Kiwanuka warming things up.

It was only a matter of time

Grammy-winning Icelandic singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Laufey’s rapid ascent has actually been a long time coming. Listed as one of Time’s Women of the Year for 2025, the 26-year-old jazz pop artist was performing as a cello soloist with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra at the age of 15. Credited with bringing jazz to Gen Z, a dollar from each ticket sold on her new “A Matter of Time” tour (named for her latest album) will go to the Laufey Foundation supporting young musicians. Laufey, with opening act Suki Waterhouse, performs at Place Bell in Laval on October 21. 

The last tour? We doubt it

French-Congolese singer/rapper GIMS rose to fame as a member of the French hip-hop group Sexion d’Assaut in the late 2010s before moving on to a triumphant solo career, becoming the first French rapper to fill the Stade de France in 2019. Le Dernier Tour is a celebration of GIMS’ musical career from his early days with Sexion d’Assaut to his solo successes, and he brings it to the Bell Centre on October 24.

A timeless 30-year-old

It’s hard to believe that it’s been three decades since much-loved Canadian singer/songwriter Sarah McLachlan released her breakout album Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, but the numbers don’t lie. Now the Lilith Fair founder is announcing the Fumbling Towards Ecstasy 30^th Anniversary Tour, which will see McLachlan playing the entirety of the album in addition to other hits over two nights at Salle-Wilfrid Pelletier, Place des Arts, October 29 and 30. Vocal trio and TikTok darlings Tiny Habits will open.

A living Legend 

It’s almost hard to believe that it’s been 20 years since John Legend blew onto the R&B scene with a sophisticated mix of neo-soul, hip-hop and pop on his debut album, Get Lifted. The recording garnered eight Grammy nominations and won three Grammy Awards. Now, backed by his full band, Legend’s Get Lifted 20th Anniversary World Tour will showcase a setlist celebrating the entirety of the album as well as other career-spanning hits. Take in this legend-in-the-making when he warms up Place Bell, Laval on November 14. 

Band on the run

The word “icon” isn’t nearly as monumental as it needs to be to describe Paul McCartney (who, in reality, needs no description at all). We’re going to have to invent a new word. The mind behind one of the most expansive, multi-generational and above all beloved music catalogues of all time will bring his Got Back 2025 tour to Montréal this fall. Expect classics like Hey Jude, Live and Let Die, Band on the Run, Let It Be and dozens more from McCartney’s solo, Wings and, of course, Beatles songbooks when he performs two shows at the Bell Centre, November 17 and 18.

Burnin’ down tha house

The first Nigerian artist to headline stadiums in the U.S. and the U.K., singer/songwriter/producer Burna Boy has hit the afterburners on his already rapid ascent. And he collects best international artist awards like other people collect baseball cards. Insanely infectious afrobeat, dancehall and reggae are his M.O., and he returns to the Bell Centre for his No Sign of Weakness Tour — featuring a 360-degree stage in the middle of the floor — on December 15.

Rapid-fire rap and rock

Formerly known as Machine Gun Kelly, and now shaking stages under the acronym mgk, multi-platinum-selling rapper, singer, pop-punk rocker and songwriter Colson Baker has taken an unusually winding, and sometimes rocky, road to the top. His latest album, Lost Americana, sees his star continuing to rise as his Lost Americana Tour circles the world, landing in the Bell Centre on December 10 with up-and-coming alt-pop artist Julia Wolf.

Three-of-a-kind performances

The fraternal phenomenon that is the Jonas Brothers (Joe, Kevin and Nick, in the unlikely event you forgot) are taking their music-making family trilogy on the road in support of their seventh and latest studio album, Greetings from Your Hometown. The Jonas20: Greetings from Your Hometown Tour is also a celebration of the bros’ two decades writing and performing together and, if lead-up shows are any indication, fans can likely expect some high-profile guest appearances. Opening acts include Jesse McCartney, Franklin Jonas (the younger other Jonas brother) and Deleasa at the Bell Centre, December 17.

Concerts in 2026

A diamond mine of music

Alt-country rockers Blue Rodeo have always managed to swim against the current, racking up reams of radio play with songs like Try, After the Rain and Diamond Mine at a time when grunge and other music genres were the prevailing flavours of the day. Now the Canadian Walk of Fame, Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame and Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductees (it doesn’t get more Canadian than that, eh?) are embarking on their Lost Together – The 40th Anniversary Tour. Special guest Adam Baldwin will open when the tour pulls into Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Place des Arts on January 17, 2026.

Get ready for a scary good time

Leave it to the Swedes: theatrical monsters of rock Ghost have upped the stakes with their sixth “psalm” Skeletá, their first album to reach number 1 on the Billboard 200, and which has the band selling out arenas across North America on their Skeletour World Tour. The tour is a phone-free experience (phones will be secured in Yondr pouches that concertgoers maintain possession of at all times). So put your devices away and pull out your Ghost-themed costumes, skeletal face paint, papal robes and nun habits for a raucous night of apparition rock when Ghost spooks the Bell Centre on January 30, 2026.

The Floyd: too much and never enough

Montrealers love of legendary British prog-rockers Pink Floyd is bottomlessly deep. In the absence of the real thing, cover band Brit Floyd continues to do an epic job of filling the hole in music fans’ hearts. Brit Floyd’s newest world tour, The Moon, The Wall and Beyond, is a monumental production celebrating two of the most iconic and influential albums in rock history: The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall. A state-of-the-art light show, lasers, video projections, inflatables and theatrical staging will be the name of the game at Place Bell in Laval on February 11, 2026.

Set your senses on overload

Anybody who’s ever seen industrial alt-rock icons Nine Inch Nails knows their shows are not an experience you’re going to forget anytime soon, and the current rave-reviewed Peel It Back Tour promises the kind of sensory onslaught that few bands other than NIN can deliver. Concertgoers can expect hits, rarities and tracks from the chart-topping TRON: Ares (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), the group’s first-ever film score. Nine Inch Nails will shake the foundations of the Bell Centre on February 16, 2026 with special guests Boys Noize.

Twice the fun

They were the first all-girl K-pop group to headline Lollapalooza, and the first to headline both MLB and NFL stadiums in the United States, selling out Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium and New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium in 2024. Now the nine-member, bubble-gum pop juggernaut Twice are expanding their global footprint with the <This Is For> World Tour, which will see them debuting their first 360-degree, in-the-round stage experience for fans. Catch them from all angles in the Bell Centre on March 3, 2026.

Alive and kicking

Nineties alt-rock gets its due when multi-platinum band +LIVE+ headline their first Canadian cross-country tour in over 20 years in celebration of the 35th anniversary of their 1991 hit album Mental Jewelry. Sweetening the deal, longstanding Canadian/American group Big Wreck will join them on the Like a Rollin’ Thunder Tour 2026, while popular Montréal rockers The Damn Truth will set the tone at Place Bell in Laval on March 10, 2026.

“Mayhem” may be an understatement

Lady Gaga’s popularity appears to have no upper reaches. In Rio de Janeiro during May 2025, her free show at Copacabana Beach drew an estimated 2.5 million fans, setting a new record for the highest-attended concert by a female artist in history. And her eighth and latest studio album, Mayhem, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, making it her seventh consecutive number one solo album. Montrealers will get their chance to go goo goo for Gaga when she rolls her rave-reviewed Mayhem Ball tour into the Bell Centre on April 2 and 3, 2026.

There are many directions

The members of U.K. boy band One Direction may have split into five directions, but all of those paths have led to individual stardom and musical success (albeit RIP Liam Payne). The platinum-selling Louis Tomlinson carries on that tradition with his third and latest album, How Did I Get Here?, which finds him making Lemonade, the recording’s crazy catchy first single. Tomlinson’s How Did We Get Here? World Tour finds its way into the Bell Centre, July 16, 2026.

Get ready for some wicked shows

Quiz time: Who has over 115 billion global streams, 70 million albums sold worldwide, the most billion-streamed songs in Spotify history, is the artist with the most number 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 this decade (seven), and starred in the blockbuster film Wicked, which became the highest-grossing Broadway musical adaptation in box office history? It can only be Ariana Grande, who will bring her new Eternal Sunshine Tour to the Bell Centre for two nights, July 28 and 30, in 2026.

A cool cat

Not everyone can parlay an internet meme into a massive music career, but that’s exactly what L.A. rapper, singer and songwriter Doja Cat did with her 2018 novelty single Mooo!, on which she portrays herself as a cow. Like, an actual cow. Fast forward to 2025, and the “Queen of Pop-Rap,” or the “Queen of Memes” as she is alternately known, is taking her massive, year-long, 62-city Tour Ma Vie World Tour to no less than five continents. Catch the Doja Cat at the Bell Centre on November 27, 2026.