Fleet Street Blasts Off

Looking as sharp as ever in their tuxedoes and red bow ties, Fleet Street delivered yet another hilarious performance during their spring show titled “Fleet Street Conquers the Moon” on Sunday, May 11th.
At first, I was certainly skeptical of how well the performers would pull off this theme of conquering the moon, because in all honesty, it seemed far too lame for even Fleet Street to make funny. I was instantly proved wrong when I picked up a program, which was cleverly designed to mimic the safety instruction pamphlets you would find in an airplane. However, this was obviously no ordinary program, for not only did it list the songs in the show, but it also depicted various situations in which passengers on the space shuttle may (or may not) find themselves. For example, on a typical airplane safety card, you would find pictures of an airplane crashing into water or on land. In the program, there were similar pictures, captioned “On a bad day, we might crash like this.” Then, in an adjacent picture with the caption, “On a good day, we might crash like this,” the airplane is plummeting into a sea of marshmallows with a rainbow and smiling sun in the background. Quite simply, the program made sense in the context of the show, but it doesn’t make sense in and of itself. All of the safety instructions are completely random, which is extremely appropriate since Fleet Street often relies on haphazardness to create humor.
I also particularly enjoyed the detail given to the set. In the first half of the show while Fleet Street prepared the audience for “takeoff,” a cardboard moon could be seen hanging from stage right. Immediately following intermission (during which the journey to the moon took place), the moon on stage right was replaced with a cardboard earth and various paper maché rocks were strewn across the stage. Was it a little cheesy and over-the-top? Well, yes, but what more can we say of Fleet Street?
Whereas the visual aspects of the performance were quite entertaining (minus a few technical difficulties), the audience really attended this concert to hear music, and Fleet Street delivered. Famous for their quirky antics juxtaposed with their humorous pieces, the singers performed six new songs, which is quite impressive since all of them are original. Fleet Street further enhances the hilarity of the lyrics with purposely overstated choreography. At times, I felt like it was slightly annoying to have to focus both on the lyrics of the song and the choreography, but in general, the group did a decent job of not detracting too much from the words.
What I found most interesting about the performance was that about three songs were not original and did not rely on humor as a means of impressing the audience. Although the audience may have been less receptive during these songs, as they were expecting something hilarious yet were denied, I thought that the inclusion of more serious pieces was a very bold and smart decision. In my opinion, every time Fleet Street sings a more serious song, they take a huge risk since they are known for being comedic. Thus, while singing a song such as “Ruby Baby,” the group can only rely on their vocal talent, thereby purely showcasing their synchronousness and tone quality. As a member of the Stanford a cappella community, I can honestly say that Fleet Street is one of the most musically sound groups on campus, and I feel like that shows during their less ridiculous songs.
Another entertaining part of the show was the extremely random skits in between songs. A couple of them had to do with being on the moon (one involving a Fleet Streeter in a creepy alien costume) but most of them had absolutely nothing to do with anything. Usually, a skit followed one of the more subdued songs to keep the mood light and funny, which I found to be a clever and effective tactic. In addition to enhancing Fleet Street’s already solid reputation as a hysterical group of guys, the skits also demonstrated their acting skills. The guys were extremely funny and did a great job of keeping character throughout the roars of laughter from the audience.
Even in dealing with the sound difficulties that hindered the showing of their various videos between songs and skits, Fleet Street performed with class and style, as per usual. Knowing that they write their own skits and most of their music, maintain a professional demeanor during performances and still manage to sound phenomenal, it is obvious that Fleet Street has tremendously talented members. The show was very well-produced and extremely entertaining. Even if a cappella music is not necessarily a favorite of yours, I would highly suggest attending a Fleet Street performance--they’re fantastic, they’re funny, and they always dress to impress.