With the return of events in summer 2021, the sounds of live music can once again be heard throughout Orange County, NY. Middletown’s Orange County Fairgrounds has now hosted a handful of concerts across multiple live music spaces on the grounds. While acts like Toby Keith and Brantley Gilbert performed on the grounds’ stadium/speedway, acts like Blackberry Smoke, Everclear and Better than Ezra have performed the on the grounds’ outdoor, lawn seated amphitheater “The Barn”. Next up for The Barn stage are rock legends, CHEAP TRICK, and they are brining a local opener with them!
An indie rock foursome by the name “Wickham Falls”, whose members are from Orange County’s Warwick area have been working to get their names out there. Originally performing as “Jacob the Band”, the then trio played the Orange County Fair stage multiple times trying out a combination of covers and original music. With some stage time under their belts and some tweaks to the band’s membership, “Jacob” would rebrand as the foursome “Wickham Falls” and record their first studio album. Now, fresh off a recording session of their second full length album, opening for Cheap Trick on September 5th might just be the big break they are looking for.
Wickham Falls’ unique sound is an interesting fit with Cheap Trick, legendary power pop rockers. Though the members of Wickham Falls, (currently undergrad students) are young, their influences draw from the pool of classic power pop. Starting with bands like The Beach Boys and British invasion bands like The Who, “power pop” was a rejection of the pretenses of rock music at the time, featuring melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, energetic performances, and “happy” sounding music underpinned by a sense of yearning, longing, or despair. The founders of “power pop” very much laid the ground work for what we consider modern “Indie Rock” like Wickham Falls.
The members of Wickham Falls draw more direct influence from modern acts, which drew their influence from classic power pop. Wickham’s sound has been described as similar to The Pixies or The Cranberries (in part due to singer Brooke Nilson’s ethereal, beautiful yet somewhat haunting voice), but members also show love to their personal influences like The Strokes, Badflower and Peach Pit. The range of covers they play live really exemplifies the band’s diverse musical tastes having performed: Amy Winehouse, Fallout Boy, Sublime, Local H and more across their numerous live performances in the Orange County area.
With such an eclectic line up for inspiration, one can only wonder what Wickham Falls’ newly recorded second album will sound like. Check out their debut full-length “To Pluto” now streaming on Spotify, and come out and support these local up-and-comers on their September 5th concert, opening for CHEAP TRICK! You’ll be among the first to hear new music from these astonishing young musicians and then hear classic hits like “I Want You to Want Me” and “The Flame” from Cheap Trick! Tickets for the show are available now at ticketmaster or OMEEVENTS.COM. And check out Wickham Falls online at their site wickhamfalls.com for more info.
