Hip Pocket rocks SPE on Sunday. Pictures by Rashbehari Das

There are music lovers and there are cricket lovers. And then there are both. All three found their way to Someplace Else on Sunday evening to hear Hip Pocket in its new “pop” avatar.

As the LCD televisions screened the India-Pakistan match at The Park’s iconic pub, a different game took over the stage. Classic rockers Hip Pocket belted out a power package — ranging from the ’80s to recent chart-topping hits.

Rila Banerjee took the lead, beginning with Roberta Flack’s 1973 hit Killing Me Softly. The famous ABBA number Ring Ring got the crowd singing along. Country music wasn’t far behind as the band — comprising Nondon Bagchi on drums, Sumith Ramachandran on lead guitar, Sankha Subhra Ghosh on bass, Dominic Saldanha on keyboards, Ben Westley and Rila on vocals — belted out John Denver’s legendary track Country Roads.

Nondon Bagchi on drums

There was something for GeNext too. I’m Yours by Jason Mraz was followed by Lady Antebellum’s Need You Now. By now, the mood was set and the crowd was cheering as loudly to the rhythm of the music as to Virat Kohli’s match-winning knock of 78 runs off 61 balls!

As soon as the band moved on to Billy Joel’s Just The Way You Are, the crowd started clapping. But the one track that rocked Someplace Else on Sunday evening was Rila’s rendition of I Will Survive (the Gloria Gaynor hit).

There was munch to go with the music too. The Sunday Pub Grub, which includes Shepherd’s Pie, Peppered Chicken Escalope with Roast Potatoes, Seared Sausages, Herbed Wedges and more, was launched by model and anchor Sonika Chauhan. Expect the combo — Hip Pocket and pub grub — to take over Someplace Else every Sunday, 7pm to 9pm.

Debarati Chakraborty