DESCRIPTION:
At McCabe's Guitar Shop. This 1987 Opal band had four core members who later became core members of Mazzy Star: David Roback, Keith Mitchell, Suki Ewers, & Will Glenn (a.k.a. Cooper). Opal was essentially the same band as Mazzy Star as far as personnel goes, except Kendra was singer till Hope replaced her in late 1987 or early in 1988 after Kendra quit. In 1989 Opal changed their name to Mazzy Star.

Set List:
1) A Falling Star
2) Rocket Machine
3) Super Nova
4) Magick Power

This upload is the recording of set 2. The band played just three songs in set 1 (not included here due to poor sound quality at the original show), the same songs as here in set 2, except Rocket Machine was added to the second set.

Anyone interested can download an audio file of this Opal recording in lossless FLAC format via a file hosting site. It includes both set 1 & 2, plus 2 extra songs Kendra sings with other artists at the show (one with Natalie Merchant, & one with Steve Wynn). It's here:
https://mega.nz/#!LV1G2DKY!GtO7aYKjPV8gkZAfecp_bCLaXv3qjCVw8YKBCnHnezs

This show was sponsored by Texas Records store & McCabe's Guitar Shop & was held at McCabe's. There were two shows on this date. Opal played short sets at both the early & late shows. Opal was just one of a number of bands/artists that played the shows. Other participants included Michael Stipe & Peter Buck of REM, Natalie Merchant, Steve Wynn, Russ Tolman, Downey Mildew, & Love Tacos. These Opal recordings came from a large file of the entire two shows with all artists that was uploaded to dimeadozen.org torrent site. Anyone interested in downloading the whole show should check the Dime site. It comes up there in a search of "Opal".
These Opal sets occurred shortly before Opal's L.P "Happy Nightmare Baby" was released in 1987.

David Roback seems to have a knack for finding talented female singers/writers to work with in bands. First Kendra, then Hope. To fully appreciate Kendra's singing, one might also check out Opal "Early Recordings" vols. 1 & 2 albums, & secondarily the louder, more psychedelic "Happy Nightmare Baby." Mazzy Star's sound seems to hearken back to Opal's early recordings. They both have a generally quieter, melancholy atmosphere.

Oct. 2013 update: I maintain & update an extensive (mostly live shows) bootlegs list with download links at new fan forum mazzystar.free.fr of Mazzy Star & related artists (Hope Sandoval, Opal, Rain Parade, etc.). The boots thread is found in the "General Discussion" section. "Worthwhile music's for sharing, not hoarding". The forum also has a thread with eight 2013 press interviews with Hope & David. So, check out mazzystar.free.fr