Montreal's Pink Floyd exhibit is a mind-bending experience, no psychedelics needed (PHOTOS)

Pink Floyd stage props, instruments, and even a founding member have touched down in Montreal, marking their first appearance since the band's last sell-out show at the Olympic Stadium. Arsenal Contemporary Art gallery is hosting a retrospective that unpacks their storied past and wide-reaching influence, right down to the trippiest details.

"Pink Floyd: Their Mortal Remains" is crafted by the band itself. Drummer Nick Mason was instrumental in bringing the showcase to life, which has made its rounds in Europe before making an exclusive Canadian stop in Montreal.

"Montreal always supplied us with very large audiences, sometimes very noisy audiences," Mason said, remembering the city fondly on opening night.

A pig inflatable at the entrance to the exhibition. @sofsilva.mtl | Instagram

Visitors don headphones at the entrance of the exhibition, along with a handheld device that plays audio depending on where you are in a room. If you approach a TV, the voices on-screen fade up, so you can hear what they're saying until you walk away.

There's a screen for each year leading up to Pink Floyd's major success, starting with 1967. Band members recount stories about various songs and their experiences while touring. Each video features anecdotes about what was going on behind the scenes as they began to take over the music charts with their original sound.

One room showcases the original art and meaning behind iconic album covers.@sofsilva.mtl | Instagram

You'll hear iconic anthems as you enter a room filled with original photos behind some of the band's most famous album covers. The art from the "Wish You Were Here" release, featuring two men shaking hands while one of them is on fire, was intended as a visual pun. A nearby plaque explains that the image riffed on the "I've been burned" expression popularized in the '70s, meaning "I've been ripped off."

A pig inflatable and other memorabilia from "Animals." Right, Replicas of the lightbulb suits on the cover 1988 live album, "Delicate Sound of Thunder."@w.princetagram | Instagram

The inflatable pig, an emblem of the band that was intended to critique the wealthy upper class, shows up throughout the exhibition accompanied by other ginormous, mind-bending artworks floating overhead like they would have at a live show.

The exhibition spans well into the 1980s with later posters showing how the band's aesthetic evolved.@sofsilva.mtl | Instagram

While drugs influenced the band's creative output (and their fandom), as seen in the surreal blow-up art on display, you'll probably need all of your faculties to take in the breadth of information dispensed on wall plaques.

The exhibit is carefully curated and offers a deeply personal experience — one that's silent unless you're wearing the exhibition headphones. Toward the end, a large room treats visitors to a multimedia show, where colourful floor lights, a musical montage, and archival footage of the band converge.

A huge room with a triple screen and floor projections.@sofsilva.mtl | Instagram

The exhibition ends in a gift shop that's stocked with some pretty cool merch. T-shirts featuring band members and trippy '70s designs average around $50. There's also Montreal-specific souvenirs, like magnets ($6), mugs ($20) and Christmas ornaments ($30) sporting a Pink Floyd poster for an Olympic Stadium show.

You can also pick up reproductions of the band's album covers ($20) and even an original eye-catching design on holographic paper signed by Nick Mason ($100).

Some of the merch available in the gift shop, including signed original posters.@sofsilva.mtl | Instagram

The exhibit is a well-designed walk through Pink Floyd's emergence and evolution. If you go in expecting a traditional take on an avant-garde band, you won't be disappointed.

Pink Floyd: Their Mortal Remains

When: November 4, 2022, to April 2, 2023

Where: Arsenal Contemporary Art, 2020, rue William

Cost: $27.83+ (Tuesday to Wednesday); $36.53+ (Thursday to Friday); $45.23+ (Saturday to Sunday)

More at pinkfloydexhibition.com