by Debbi | Oct 22, 2008 | Famous Folk
The Sandbar was once again the place to be for the after-concert party last Saturday.
Previous Sandbar patrons Roger Creager and his band performed at The Granada. The crowd was small but fun- like The Sandbar!- and after the show Roger and some of his crew walked back to The Sandbar with us. They only had an hour before their bus was scheduled to pull out of town, but they still wanted to visit the bar. We were thrilled that they liked our place so much that they wanted to go back.
We gave one of the band members a Sandbar shirt in the hopes that he will visit many more exotic places than we will and take a picture for our wall. He promised to send us a picture from someplace cool.
About twenty minutes after we walked in the bar, our friend Julia brought over the band that had just played at the Bottleneck. I don't know who they were or what type of music they played, but everyone seemed to love The Sandbar.
I heard the Toby Keith song "I Love This Bar" on the radio today. That song has always made me think about The Sandbar and the diverse groups of people that love the place. We may not have quite the range of people mentioned in the song, but it's definitely a place that all sorts can enjoy.
by Debbi | Oct 6, 2008 | Events, Famous Folk, Jukebox
Last night was a memorable Sunday for The Sandbar.
Peter Mayer is the lead guitarist for Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefers Band, and we were lucky enough to welcome him back to The Sandbar for the third time. Tickets for the show were $25 each, and if you've ever been to The Sandbar, you can guess how small and intimate the show was.
Peach and Ted graciously put Peter and his band up at The Lodge in Baldwin City on Saturday and Sunday night. They arrived in Lawrence Sunday afternoon, and Dave and Pat got to be roadies for the afternoon. The band was set up in front of the windows, in the front area of the bar. It was a little tight, but with only three band members it worked out fine. The concert started a little after 9 p.m. and we expected two 45 minute sets, but they definitely played a lot longer than that.
Towards the end of the final set, the band members moved into the middle of the bar, sat down, and played several acoustic songs with the audience piled around them. Several times he asked the crowd for requests.They even played some songs that his 18-year old fiddler had never played before!
When he started "Chain of Love," he encouraged a conga line, and Peach, Michelle, and Heather obliged in Sandbar style- by dancing on the bar. 
The show was incredible. We had a full house with a diverse crowd of people- lots of our friends and
regulars, but also some folks we didn't know. Peach's brother Patrick even had a high-school friend fly in for the show.
Peter told lots of stories in between songs- a great songwriter is always a great storyteller. He told us about how the band played somewhere in Michigan, and four hundred Parrotheads showed up hoping to hear Jimmy Buffett tunes all night- which is not what Peter Mayer plays. The crowd dwindled all night until they were playing to only a few people. No worries about that happening in Lawrence- everyone was there to hear their songs.
Were you there? Tell us what you thought about the show in the comments.
by Debbi | Jun 7, 2008 | Famous Folk
A long, long time ago, The Sandbar became a live music venue for a night (or was it two?).
Peter Mayer, the guitarist in Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band, and Peach worked out an arrangement for a semi-private concert at The Sandbar. Mr. Mayer also performs with his own band when he's not traveling with Mr. Buffett, and he had some downtime he was trying to fill.
As you know, The Sandbar rarely closes to the public. For this occasion, however, we sold a limited number of advance tickets for what I believe was a Sunday night show, and only ticketholders were allowed to come in that night. It was a full house.
Mr. Mayer and his band set up their equipment in front of the windows- this was pre-giant fish tank jutting into the middle of the bar- and played an intimate little show for those fans lucky enough to score a ticket.
Peach and Ted graciously put the band up at the Lodge of Baldwin City. Recently, there was talk of bringing Mr. Mayer back for a similar event, but the timing didn't work out for him or us. Maybe one of these days it will.
Since my recollections of this event are fuzzy- due to my aging brain, not the drinks I might have had that night- the details probably aren't totally accurate. However, feel free to peruse the comments as I'm sure I'll be corrected by the faithful readers (I'm looking at you, Pattoo and Brother Pants.)
by Debbi | May 11, 2008 | Famous Folk
Last Friday night, the Granada hosted several bands: local group Roan County Split, Houston-based Roger Creager, and my favorite band, Reckless Kelly. Not really Sandbar jukebox music (yet, anyway) but great stuff nonetheless. Some of the rowdy drinking songs will probably show up on the jukebox pretty soon.
We talked to one of the guys from Roan County Split, and apparently he went to school at Baldwin High and knows the Madl family and doorboy Andrew. Everybody seems to know the Madls.
After the show, Dave and Erick talked up the merchandise guys and convinced them to come to The Sandbar. Something about our place must have appealed to them- the lime green facade? Jimmy Buffett music? the drinks?- because some of them got to the Sandbar before we could even get out of the Granada.
Roger Creager, his bandmates, and crew hung out with us for quite awhile, as did Cody, the fiddle player from Reckless Kelly, and some of his buddies. We all had a great time entertaining our new friends from down South- we love to show off The Sandbar to new people.
If you get the opportunity to see any of these bands in concert, do it. You won't regret it. And Roger Creager does a great cover of Jimmy Buffett's "A Pirate Looks At Forty" on his live album.
Above left: Drummer Matt, Deb, and Roger Creager. That's Pat in the back, never missing an opportunity to get in the picture.
Above right: Drummer Matt, Deb, and Roger's tour manager and merchandise manager. That's Erick in the back, trying to make sure he's in the picture.
by Debbi | May 6, 2008 | Famous Folk
Apparently Michelle Kwan, the gold-medal winning skater, was in The Sandbar a few weekends ago.
There's been an ongoing debate about whether or not it was actually her, or just some other tiny Asian girl who looked like an ice skater, but John was working the door and carded her, and since he actually saw her ID, he swears it was her.
No one really had any good stories to share; apparently she didn't do anything embarrassing like fall off the bar or break a glass or take off her shirt to put on the mermaid costume.
Of course, there's no picture to share as proof that she was really there, so you'll just have to take our word for it.
If you were there when Michelle was and have a good story, or even better, a picture, let us know.
by Debbi | Apr 7, 2008 | Famous Folk
No, he wasn't in The Sandbar, but we saw him last night in San Antonio.
A group of us were hanging out at a dueling piano bar called Howl at
the Moon.
It was just about time to leave and we decided that we
needed a group picture.
Dave handed Ashley the camera and told her to ask the guy behind her,
who looked suspiciously like Tim Robbins, to take our picture.
As he turned his head, Dave was convinced it was him; I didn't believe
it until Mr. Robbins confirmed that yes, it was he.
Dave very politely asked if he would mind taking our picture- "You
don't have to be in it but could you take it of us"- and he obliged.
He even checked the picture and when he realized he cut Kevin out
completely, he did a retake.
Cool guy. So we don't have a photo of Tim Robbins, but we do have a
photo he took.
