It’s official! Someplace Else will open doors in Maker Maxity, Jio World Drive, a “super luxury mall in Bandra Kurla Complex”.
The finer details are still being worked upon but Someplace Else Mumbai is expected to launch before the end of 2021.
Someplace Else -- or SPE as we know and love it -- needs no introduction for music lovers the world over. When it opened on August 19, 1994, it set trends ahead of its time and soon became the hub of entertainment on Park Street.
The pub at The Park Kolkata that celebrated 25 years in 2019 has seen bands and biggies like Skinny Alley, Pentagram, Indian Ocean, The Fender Benders, Hip Pocket, The Orient Express, Lew Hilt, Lou Majaw, Usha Uthup, Amyt Datta, Anjan Dutt, the late Monojit Datta (Kochu-da) and many more take the stage to churn out covers and originals.
Usha Uthup at Someplace Else, Kolkata
Other famous faces that kept the beer free-flowing, bar stools jiggling and toes tapping are Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan, who strummed the guitar for Bebo as part of a tour with Parikrama in 2008. And, in 2015, Michael Learns to Rock made SPE one of their stops.
The pub-style interiors of warm woodwork, rustic brick walls, leather armchairs and stained-glass ceiling have deliberately remained unchanged in the last 25 years. For a brand that thrives on nostalgia and permanence, the move to open in Mumbai is definitely a big one.
Located at the entrance of BKC, Maker Maxity houses high-end fine-dine restaurants like Pa Pa Ya and Bayroute and luxury retail brands like Canali.
Michael Learns to Rock (MLTR) and Parikrama have both performed at Someplace Else, Kolkata
In a book that marked 25 years of Someplace Else Kolkata, Ehsaan Noorani recalled his first memory at SPE. “In 2004, I was in Kolkata promoting the Instant Karma album. In the evening, Loy (Mendonsa) and I dropped into Someplace Else for a drink and heard this band playing covers. The guitarist was super. The band turned out to be Hip Pocket and the guitarist Sumith Ramachandran! We were thrilled to be in this little pub that played such good music and that too live!”
That “little pub” is going places; as Bob Dylan wrote the times they are a-changin ’.
PS: Watch this space for more details.