The Opacas to perform in Galway before recording new songs at Abbey Road

By
Michael Malone
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Following in the footsteps of The Beatles, Galway band The Opacas will head to Abbey Road studios in London to record new songs – an experience that few Irish bands can boast of.
Ahead of the recording session, the band will play a show at The Loft @ Seven, Bridge Street, on Thursday 6 June where they will perform original material and covers of new songs by local emerging artists Jamie Colohan and Tomás Ó Cáinte.
Band members Steve Talbot, Peter Tobin, Pat Boyle, Mark Raynor, Mike McLoughlin, and Joe Treacy have been overwhelmed by the positive reaction to their debut album Carpe Diem, released last year.
The gig in The Loft will feature many songs from the album, as well as new material the band is set to record at the legendary Abbey Road studios in London – where The Beatles and Pink Floyd recorded ground-breaking and iconic albums.

“When the band started, our goal was to play as a support act in the Big Top at the Arts Festival,” says lead vocalist Steve Talbot, “but we just can’t seem to make that happen, so our goals are changing.

“Our new goal is to follow in the footsteps of The Beatles and do a recording session in Abbey Road.”

“When you get to our age, it’s all about living the dream. The live session we are going to do in Abbey Road will be released as an EP and you will hear our sound is developing from 1960s inspired vocal harmonies to a more edgier rock sound. I hope people like it,” said drummer Mike McLoughlin.

Support in The Loft will be provided by the fabulous Galway female vocal trio, KaRoSal (Kara Donohoe, Róna O’Riordan and Sarah Toomey).

A highlight of the gig will showcase a new single, ‘You Know Me’, which The Opacas and KaRoSal have collaborated on.

Many people will know the song from performances in Monroes and Roisin Dubh – this is a chance to hear it live before the single is released later this summer.

The collaboration with KaRoSal continues the consistent theme with The Opacas of working with local artists. The band are also going to perform covers of new songs by local emerging artists Jamie Colohan and Tomás Ó Cáinte.

“We saw Colohan play with Aileen Henderson at the Hopespace charity concert in April where they performed a new song called Barcelona,” said bass player Pat Boyle. “We loved it instantly and asked him if it would be OK for The Opacas to cover it. So that’s what’s happening.”

Last year Tomás Ó Cáinte collaborated with The Opacas as part of a documentary filmed by local filmmaker Greta Thornton.

The documentary followed The Opacas as they created and performed a song, ‘Shine On’, with Moycullen Musical Society. The documentary has been submitted to Galway Film Fleadh and will hopefully get screened this year.

As part of the engagement, Tomás played a song he wrote called ‘Billy the Kid’. The Opacas loved it and Tomás has given them permission to perform it as part of the set in The Loft.

Tickets are available at www.opacas.com

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