Montreal street art tours: Discovering the hidden murals of Montreal

There are times when it's better to be loitering in an alleyway behind a popular music venue than standing at its entrance, and one of those times is now. That's because it's the middle of the day when no gig is scheduled, and there's a fabulous piece of art to see at the rear of Montreal's Club Soda.

As we peer at the brickwork, it seems to be covered with random splotches of colour. But our guide, Thomas, patiently points out the form of a musician playing a cello. Who knew? Now he's opened my eyes, I can see other musicians among the colours: a trumpeter, an electric guitar player, and what looks like Ray Charles in full voice, stretching over a door recess.

I would never have found this art without help, but that's the point of the All About Montreal's Murals tour. Starting in the city's Entertainment District (better known as the Quartier des Spectacles), this reveal of the city's plentiful murals wends its way through commercial areas and residential neighbourhoods, via laneways and main streets, to show off dozens of big public works.

Montreal is home to the annual MURAL festival each June as well as Under Pressure, an edgier August event which creates a street party vibe as the art is painted. As a result there's always something new to see along its streets, if you know where to look. That's where Thomas comes in, taking us to the best pieces over two hours while discussing the role of such work.

"We could go back to the art of the 1920s Mexican revolution, or that painted on the Berlin Wall," he says. "People have long expressed themselves via public art."

That's still happening on the rear wall of Henri Henri, a famous local hatter, where we see a complex mural featuring a woman next to black and white horses, doves, and chess pieces. According to Thomas it's a collaboration referencing the worldwide Black Lives Matter protests of 2020.

Nearby, behind alternative music venue Les Foufounes Electriques, is a more whimsical work depicting a steampunk version of a Wild West setting – with a robot soldier in a sombrero riding a mechanical pig into town, pursuing a mechanical bank robber. It's a fun piece with a lot of colour and action.

At the more soothing end of the spectrum is a series of murals we encounter as we walk past apartment blocks, each of which has a season depicted on its end wall. "Autumn" is particularly calming, with its impressionistic mix of orange-yellow leaves against the green of a park in which people are picnicking and playing football.