Review: Pitch Perfect with Frankie Lily at Coco Boho

Birdy and a couple of friends headed down to Coco Boho where they’d been invited to partake in some drinks, a good time, and ermmm… some crowd karaoke!

I’d never been to Coco Boho before, so when I was offered the chance to head to Pitch Perfect with Frankie Lily – and bring my friends for a fun night out – I couldn’t really resist!

The event was set to start at 9pm, so we got to the venue in plenty of time to get good seats, got our free drinks tokens, and started the evening off right.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This review is going to take a slightly different format than other reviews, because it’s not really a show as such (although it does have the performance element) and it’s not just a bar review, either.

Pitch Perfect’s vibe

We were some of the first to arrive at Coco Boho – so it was fairly quiet – and we immediately loved the pink lighting in some of the booths. We weren’t allowed to sit at those for some fabulous ‘Gram moments, though, as we were informed all of the booths were booked.

This is the point where I started to realise that, despite never having heard of it before, maybe this was a very popular night! Right enough, the room gradually started to fill up, and with a variety of clientele. Sparkly dresses a-plenty, too!

Pitch Perfect didn’t start until 11pm, something I hadn’t been aware of when we arrived at nine, but we had a really nice couple of hours loosening up, chatting and enjoying our drinks (more about those below).

By the time 11pm came around, the vibe was buzzing, and the people around us were definitely raring to go for some crowd karaoke. The screens turned on, and Frankie Lily appeared in a gorgeous red sequin dress and thigh-high black boots, looking every bit the part – and she sounded even better.

This video from Coco Boho will probably be better than any words I can type here to describe the vibe and the format of how this ‘crowd karaoke works’.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Coco Boho (@cocobohoedinburgh)

So, what is crowd karaoke? Basically, a big old singalong – but with a mic, a karaoke screen and a fabulous host! Essentially, Frankie will walk the floor, singing each number and giving people from the crowd the chance to sing a verse on the mic.

Sometimes this turned out fabulously, and people were getting it… well, pitch perfect! Some were adorable. And some… were slightly less perfect, but what do you expect from a crowd of people drinking on a Friday night? Karaoke rules apply, and you take the good with the bad – and even the ugly!

Because it’s crowd karaoke, everyone can get involved, and there’s absolutely no pressure to stand up and sing for a whole song in front of strangers – which I think is actually really nice.

Coco Boho’s drinks menu

We were especially impressed at the fantastic drinks menu at Coco Boho, and there were so many great cocktails and sharing cocktails – and, for me, mocktails – to choose from!

The drinks we had were all fabulous, and I particularly enjoyed my Mockingbird and Cocoloco mocktails. As for my friends, the espresso martini and frozen strawberry daiquiri were solid faves.

One thing that bothered us was the * symbol which specified some drinks may contain egg, milk, mustard or nuts. We spotted every other thing but the mustard, which led to many ‘WHERE’S THE MUSTARD?!’ comments which soon became a running joke.

When my friend Kate, having developed an obsession over it, finally decided to ask, it turned out there was absolutely no mustard in any of the drinks. Phew!

Oh, and did I mention we got drinks tokens to pay with? It was an unusual way of doing things, but quite fun!

Pitch Perfect as a night out

I found Pitch Perfect to be a fun night out, with a crowd who were all clearly there to have a great time. Like I said, the venue was buzzing. People threw themselves into the karaoke aspect, and Frankie Lily has an amazing voice and proved to be a capable host.

Karaoke may not be my favourite thing in the world, but we could see everyone was having a great time, singing, getting up and dancing. It was very karaoke, and seemed like a great way to let off steam if you’ve had a long week.

It feels like quite a young, trendy venue, and with quite a young (maybe mid-20s) clientele for the most part, so it surprised me when karaoke classics like I Will Survive were played – that’s proper karaoke right there!

It’s really all about the fun, and paired with the fabulous drinks, you can really fail to have a good night here if you’re a fan of karaoke.

Overall

I’d recommend Pitch Perfect with Frankie Lily at Coco Boho to anyone who’s a fan of karaoke – and especially if you want to try karaoke but maybe don’t want the pressure of getting up to sing a whole song by yourself.

Frankie Lily was a great host, and she’ll guide you all the way! This could be a great fun night out with friends, whether you’re a karaoke queen or it’s your first time.