When you want to get drunk and listen to some happening tunes, there’s only one place thzat’s going serve your needs the way you want it. What’s that? I can’t hear you. People’s Bar and Grill, located on the corner of Lincoln Way and Welch Avenue.

Okay, maybe that is sensationalizing things just a bit, but People’s is known for it’s rare combination of good drinks and great bands. This local establishment has been in existence for five years this Friday and Tom Zmolek, owner, has a surprise in store for the regulars.

“The Sundogs are getting back together to play. They were the first band to play here Aug. 25, 1990,” Zmolek said. “They’re reforming to play the show.”

Zmolek is forming People’s into the bar he had envisioned when he opened it five years ago. “We’re getting away from neon lights and going to more mirrors and signs and stuff like that,” Zmolek said. “The building was built in 1908, and I’d kind of like to restore it to an old-fashioned style, instead of bright walls and stuff like that.

“It’s getting there; it’s not quite there yet. I thought it would be there by now. This whole pub atmosphere that we’re trying to get to is definitely something that I had envisioned that I knew would take awhile.”

Aside from the restoration, People’s will continue to have the same musical format, with a little refinement here and there. “The things that change about People’s are the bands,” Zmolek said. “There’s a different one every night.”

Wednesday through Saturday, People’s format will consist of local, regional and semi-national bands, and “on off nights we might have all-ages shows or a benefit, or a national act might come through.”

The first all-ages show of the semester is the Blue Meanies with N.I.L.8 and Great Big Freak Sept. 10. “That’s on tap. I’m going to try and do an all-ages show once a month,” Zmolek said. “Usually I get one a semester, if that. I’m going to try and do as many all-ages shows on Sunday night as possible.”

Another small change that Zmolek has considered is installing a Jerry Garcia tribute night. “I haven’t decided that we’re doing this for sure, but I think Sunday night we might do some sort of Jerry tribute,” Zmolek said. “A lot of our Sunday night people come here and listen to the Grateful Dead hour on KFMG. So we’re thinking about doing something that night and expanding on that.

“What I’m trying to do is to make People’s a place where everybody feels welcome. From the frat guy to the deadhead to the long-haired-hippie-freak biker guy to the professor coming to see the show,” Zmolek said. “I guess that’s my goal and I think the different bands bring in different crowds. I’m not specifically out to change the clientele.”

With those bands comes the musical poetry that can be heard outside the bar on any given night and those damn lines than clog the sidewalk. “What brings people here is the music,” Zmolek said. “The key thing really is that you have to book music that the people want to see. It’s the music, man.”

Even with all of those refinements, if you feel that People’s is not the place for you, be it too loud or just too big, then head on downstairs to Lumpy’s and be prepared for a surprise. Zmolek has remodeled the whole place.

“The back room is going to be the game room, where we have a couple of pool tables, air hockey, dart boards, pinball — the whole thing.

“For a lack of a better name, The Retro Room is going to be basically a living room out of the 70s. We’re going to have couches everywhere, shag carpeting, cheesy old lamps and old tables; it’s going to have an Atari hooked up and people can play,” Zmolek said. “Just the whole 70s thing.”

Gone is some storage area and the band room; now Lumpy’s will hold around 155 to 160 people, a jump from the current capacity of 100.

And just to keep everybody on their toes and the rumor mill stock-piled, Zmolek has an ace up his sleeve. “I’m currently working on the magical missing venue in the 750-seat area.”