The Bar Band is a pretty important part of The Sandbar during football and basketball season. In the original post about the beginning of this group, I said I didn't know how long the band had been around- that mystery has been solved.

In our attempt to chronicle some of the colorful things that adorn our walls, I uploaded a picture of a bar band from long ago to our Facebook page and asked for help. Almost immediately, nearly every person in the picture was identified and "tagged," and comments started rolling in.

20080204 bar band dempsey (blog030709)

This picture is of the original Bar Band, and it hangs on the lower wall in between the door and the bar. As you can see, it's been on the wall for quite some time. According to Randy, this group was started in the fall of 1996 by Chad, who was either a bartender at The Sandbar at the time, or became one later, I'm not sure.

Chad said that the group's motto was "What time is it? Beer:30."  They tried to keep their mission simple- they traveled around to three or four bars the night before football games to try to get people excited.

The first few times they played at The Sandbar, they actually stood outside the bar and played into the open door. One night they walked up, and Peach and Ted told them to "Get on the bar!"

Ever since then, the bar band has been a welcome addition to the nights before a game. The band members cram into every possible space, including on top of the bar and on the benches. We buy them each a beer to show our appreciation, and then they go on their merry way to the next bar.