Local pop-rock group, the Opacas, will launch their debut album, Carpe Diem, on Friday, September 29, with a show in the Róisín Dubh. The occasion will also mark their third birthday,

The sextet – Steve Talbot, Peter Tobin, Pat Boyle, Joe Treacy, Mike McLoughlin and Leeds-based guitarist Mark Raynor – began life as a virtual band in March 2020, in the early days of Covid, and subsequently transformed into a live, touring group.

Carpe Diem, which features pop, rock, blues, and Americana, will showcase new material as well as their singles to date, including their debut, Out Of My Mind, and Shine On, recorded with the Moycullen Musical Society.

Back in 2020, the lads initially used simple mobile apps to compose and share their music.  They finally met in person when recording the video for Out of My Mind that September.

Subsequent singles, She Walks Away, and We Won’t Look Back, featured story-based videos with actors from the Knocknacarra Amateur Theatre Society and Athenry Drama Group.

The band also created stripped-down, piano-only versions of their songs, with accompanying videos displaying works by visual artists, Aoife Dowd and Patrick Kenneally, and by photographer, Chaosheng Zang.

Collaboration is a hallmark of The Opacas.

“It’s not just about us,” says lead vocalist Steve Talbot. “We wanted to use our music to showcase local artistic talent.”

Their latest single, Shine On, is a tribute to a close work colleague who died suddenly in 2019, aged 42.  Its creation and debut performance in the city’s St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church, was captured by emerging Galway filmmaker Greta Thornton in a documentary screened at the Eye Cinema in April.

Now, for next Friday night, the Opacas are inviting music fans to ‘seize the day’ and join in the fun as they launch their debut album.

Admission to the show is free and it starts at midnight. Support is from singer-songwriter Tomás Ó Cáinte who released his debut single, Grand Canyon, this month.

For more see www.Opacas.com.

Pictured: The Opacas began life as an online band in 2020.