Blasting Off: Fleet Street Conquers the Moon

A group of men, dressed in tuxes complete with red bow ties might not sound like the liveliest group you’ve ever seen, however, Stanford’s very own Fleet Street Singers might quit possibly be the liveliest, dare I say CRAZIEST, group of young men I have encountered. On Sunday night, Fleet Street presented their annual spring concert. This year the show was entitled “Fleet Street Conquers the Moon”. Complete with hilarious video clips and skits, these a cappella singer’s transformed Dinkelspiel auditorium into a space ship, blasting the audience into outer space.

Fleet Street truly dedicated their show to the theme, involving every aspect of the audience’s experience around outer space. As soon as I walked in the door, a girl dressed as a flight attendant stood before me, ready to take my ticket. “Enjoy your flight,” she said as she ushered me through the door. As I found my seat, I found the show’s program disguised as a flight safety manual. Along with the set list and member names were ridiculous pictures with nonsensical instructions on what to do “in case of an emergency”. Fleet Street left no detail unattended. The comedy began before they even graced the stage. I couldn’t wait for the show to begin.

The show began with a video skit projected on the stage. The two Fleet Street members in the skit mimicked a flight safety video, and explained to the audience that we were participating in the newest Bing Overseas Program…to the moon. The audience roared with laughter. Finally, the rowdy group galloped onto the stage with contagious energy.
Fleet Street sang a number of songs, some of which were funny parodies of popular songs, most of which were in some way comedic. While it was clear the audience enjoyed their performances for their hilarity, I was somewhat disappointed with the vocal aspect of their songs. One particular number was meant as a serious piece instead of being comical. Without the comedy to fall back on, the group’s vocal performance was unimpressive. It felt like the audience didn’t know how to react to Fleet Street when they weren’t trying to be funny, creating an uncomfortable atmosphere. I think it was pretty apparent that Fleet Street’s spring show was trading on its comedy, leaving vocals to take the back seat. In the end, it definitely paid off for them to put their energy into the theme and comedy of the performance because the audience loved it. People laughed until it hurt at these sixteen, off the wall Stanford boys, and I think that is exactly what The Stanford Fleet Street Singers intended.