July Fighter warmed up an enthusiastic crowd at the Amsterdam Bar and Hall in St Paul on Saturday night, January 7, 2012. The group started the evening with some country rock originals, suitable for line-dancing between the tables. Later in the set, the guitar solos broke out as the group channeled its inner Van Halen.
July Fighter band members have all perfected their instrumentation. For example, Spencer Franson, guitarist, seems quite comfortable with lead guitar solos, grimacing and posing at times in retro rock and roll fashion. Sitting in with the band was an excellent pedal steel player. While on one hand, July Fighter had a typical genre sound, the pedal steel added a slightly unique sound for the Americana-hard rock band.
An early listen to the band would have audiences believing this was another Gear Daddies influenced country-rock band, like the many that have become popular in the local music scene. In fact, during the early part of the set, some audience members were out of their seats, bouncing in a bow legged folk dance frenzy.
Then, like an abrupt radio dial change, July Fighter broke out into a hard rock song. Singer Jimmy Lyback repeated, “It ain’t right” in the chorus, but it was all right. The change-up added some depth to the band’s earlier set.
Perhaps the most sincere song in the evening was near the end.
“This is a love song,” smiles Lyback into the microphone. He further explains that it is the type of love song that is about a break-up.
“You told me the sunshine’s coming after the rain,” he croons as he recounts the age old tale of love gone sour.
The audience sways. Were smoking more popular, the lighters would have been up.
July Fighter definitely fills a club. Audiences seem to like their polished Americana-hard rock sound as well as their rock and roll grandeur. The fact that they’ve worked in a talented pedal steel guitarist demonstrates some originality. Lyback says in the band’s OurStage page that the band is “continually morphing.” With each change in any band’s line-up, the sound and focus of the band changes. But, a band can also grow with continuity.
With a growing local following that is reminiscent of Gear Daddies or GB Leighton, July Fighter may want to continue with their mainstream sound. However, they are also capable in terms of talent to break out of that mold, growing their fan base to another level, while also not alienating their current devotees. It will be interesting to see where July Fighter goes from here.
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