Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bruce Juice on November 11, 2015 at 9:39am

Red flag raised when you said "forensic handwriting expert" as these folks have not got good reviews on this site.  Plus the handwriting does not look like Springsteens. Just one example -- he doesn't write his "T's" like that.  Here is a real set list from Jeff Gold (Record Mecca).  Note the different style of T's.  My guess is that someone else wrote the set list that night for Bruce.

Permalink Reply by Quisp on November 22, 2015 at 2:03pm

I can see the differences but also see similarities.  The "S"s are very similar especially in the beginning little hook. The "D"s are also very much similar along with other letters such as the "P"s.  Some of these also look similar to versions of letters in autographs by Bruce Springsteen.  I understand your skepticism and I am not trying to get into an argument or anything hostile, just looking for insight and thoughts about who would have written the list that night and then on another stop in South Carolina.  Also worth noting that many peoples writing styles change over time .

Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on November 22, 2015 at 2:28pm

Hello,

Looking objectively, I don't see any similarities with the letters you mentioned and those posted/mentioned. If forced, I might bet the green felt tip marks on yours are by Springsteen, but the rest is by another hand from what has been shown.

Eric

Permalink Reply by Richard Booth on November 11, 2015 at 10:53pm

I agree with Bruce Juice. This does not look like Springsteen's hand writing. His written set lists have not changed in writing style at all. The example demonstrated below is exactly now a bruce has written out his set lists for years and unfortunately the original example looks like the writing of someone else.

Permalink Reply by Terry G. on November 13, 2015 at 12:44pm

https://brucebase.wikispaces.com/1985

Permalink Reply by Quisp on November 14, 2015 at 9:10am

I was told by the stage crew that Bruce himself did write the set list.  The handwriting matches another set list currently being sold on Ebay from a show in South Carolina while my list was from a show in NY. If it wasn't him then who else would write the list? 

here is a link to that set list:  http://www.ebay.com/itm/BRUCE-SPRINGSTEEN-HAND-WRITTEN-STAGE-USED-S...

 

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Permalink Reply by Terry G. on November 14, 2015 at 12:00pm

I think what you have is a widely-circulated copy of the setlist that is NOT hand written by Bruce. Bruce does write his setlist each night, but it is then copied via computer (by xerox machine back in the day) to provide each band member and crew member with one. There are approximately two dozen for any given major tour show. brucejuice is 100% accurate when he states that the "t" is not right. The auction link you provide gave me a good chuckle, as that is not even close to Bruce's handwriting. If you simply do a Google search for "Springsteen setlist", then click on images, you will see hundreds of examples of his writing. If you go to the link I provided, brucebase, and look on the list for the show you say this list came from, click on it, you will find an actual copy of the circulating setlist, which looks just like yours. 

Permalink Reply by Quisp on November 16, 2015 at 8:49am

Little confused by your post.  I am familiar with Xerox machines but this is not a Xerox copy.  It is written on Corrasable bond typing paper as shown by the water mark.  This type of paper would not work in a copy machine. This list was taped to the floor and removed while I stood there on the stage, not a copy that was given to somebody.  I clicked on the link you provided but did not see a copy of the circulating setlist.

 

If I am understanding your post correctly you are saying that Bruce writes the lists for his shows, then they are copied and handed out. There are certain things I can be 100% sure of.  The document is not a copy or reproduction of any kind, Xerox or otherwise.  The list was the one that was taped on the floor of the stage during the show and was the one at his feet during the show. I know this because I was standing on the stage when it was taken off the floor and handed to me. Based on those two facts who else would have written the list?  I am trying to figure this out.

Oh and the set list picture that is on the link you gave me is a photo of my setlist that I took, someone must have posted it to that page.  I know this because the pattern in the background is from the table cloth I took the photo on, that is why it looks just like mine.  Whoever posted it to that page put it on the link for the show date 1/26/85 but the list is from the1/27/85 show. 

Permalink Reply by Terry G. on November 16, 2015 at 11:15am

I'm a little confused too- your image shows a concert ticket and backstage pass. You stated you worked as crew during the show. Bruce doesn't use backstage passes for crew- they have their own defined pass. Why do you have a ticket for a show you got into by working it? These are the types of things that cast suspicion on your backstory as to how you came by the setlist. Throw in that the writing is probably not Bruces and you've got authenticity issues that  might preclude a sale. Where/when did you post the setlist image so that it could be stolen and posted to brucebase? 

Permalink Reply by Quisp on November 16, 2015 at 12:28pm

My apologies for not being clearer about that.  I was a student at Syracuse and had a part time job at the carrier dome. When concerts came to the Dome they would have student help with the grunt work.  Was one of the best jobs a student could have.  Worked the Prince concert assisting the laser crew on the Purple Rain tour show that was satellite broadcast and later became a VHS and also was lucky enough to work the Springsteen shows.  Because there were many of us and we were just students, not on the traveling crew, we did not get full backstage pass access(didn't want a bunch of college kids running around backstage during a show) I got an aftershow pass which is different from a backstage pass.  That is how I got onto the stage after the show so I could work. The reason I have a ticket stub was that  I had gotten the tickets for my girlf and I went they went on sale.  Tickets go on sale a while before the actual show and we did not know who was going to be working them until after tickets would have been sold out. I wasn't going to risk not seeing the show if I didn't get picked to work it so I bought tickets.  I saw the first nights show standing and the second nights show I sat with my girlf.  After the second show we started breaking down the stage and that is where I got the set list.

I posted photos of the set list on EBay and on this site.  Is there a way to tell who put the photo on Bruce base. If you have any doubts that it is my photo I can show you more pictures of the list and the cloth that is under it.  Plus the list I have has the same green pen marks next to songs.  The list itself seems to be written in Grease pencil or something similar because it was folded for a while and during that time the words kind of transferred to the opposite surface which was folded against it.  I understand having doubt about the story but that is the truth. Have my graduation photos from Syracuse class of 1986 if that helps.  Was in the Carrier Dome also. Here is a picture of the tablecloth that was behind the set list in the photo.

Permalink Reply by Terry G. on November 20, 2015 at 1:22pm

If you posted it on ebay, it could have been easily copied and submitted to Brucebase. But this discussion is really irrelevant, as you have a setlist from a bruce show, which has value if it is not a copy. You do not have a Bruce handwritten setlist, so advertising it like that makes your setlist lose credibility overall, IMO. I'd just advertise it with the story of you getting it (in great detail) and it being described as a setlist retrieved from the stage by you, not Bruce's personal handwritten list. Might be worth a hundred dollars to a hard-core bruce fan, but they usually are well aware of his handwriting style (it has even been turned into a FONT, believe it or not). The info about the ticket and backstage pass do not help your story, IMO, they partially discredit the whole thing. If you had an authenticated, hand-written set list to a significant Bruce show, it would be worth thousands, but this is not what you have.

Permalink Reply by Quisp on November 20, 2015 at 4:12pm

If you feel this discussion is irrelevant then please excuse yourself from it.  I was asking Brucejuice(not you) if he had any idea as to who he thought might have written the setlist if it was not Bruce.  I would like to hear his thoughts since he seems to be the one who has the most knowledge whereas you have made accusations of the setlist being a XEROX because you saw a picture of the same list on some other site not realizing it was the same picture I posted here, then question my reason for having a ticket stub and AFTERSHOW pass instead of backstage pass. The info about the ticket and backstage pass, which I have told you twice already is not a backstage pass, but an aftershow pass, are there to answer your questions about why  I had a ticket if I was working the show.  You do not like the answers so you infer that they are untrue by saying they discredit the whole thing.  In my experience the truth does not discredit anything, whether or not you believe them is of little concern to me. 

Let me ask you, how many concerts have you worked as crew on?  How many times have you set up or brokedown a stage for someone like Bruce Springsteen or assisted setting up the lasers for a Prince show or done scaffold for a Duran Duran show?  If you did you would know that there are people who work for the road crew which goes from show to show and then there are locals(or in this case students from Syracuse Univ) who work assisting the road crews at the various stops.  They do not get backstage access during the show because it would be chaos and the students would get in the way.  We were allowed into the venue without tickets to watch the show from wherever we could in the Dome, which meant standing somewhere (which I did on the first night). For the second night I sat with my friend and watched from our seats then went to break down the stage as it was the final night of the tour.  I am sorry you do not like that explanation but that is what happened. 

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