Here’s a short, sweet and rockin’ set from ZuZu’s Petals, one of the featured showcase bands during the 1994 Minnesota Music Academy Icebreaker conference; performing most of their LP, The Music Of Your Life.
Zuzu’s Petals
Minneapolis MN
Seventh Street Entry
Friday 8 July 1994
stereo audience recording
24/48 analog > digital transfer from master cassette(s)
duration (39:48.09)
cassette side A (22:50):
[01] start (00:13.65)
[02] Do Not (03:19.56)
[03] God Cries (03:39.36)
[04] Chatty Cathy (02:27.17)
[05] White Trash Love (02:52.41)
[06] Love Bullet (03:07.38)
[07] Remembering Why (02:52.50)
[08] The Girl He First Met (04:17.10)
cassette side B (16:57):
[09] Feel Like Going Home (02:49.51)
[10] Come True (03:36.09)
[11] Cinderella’s Daydream (03:06.61)
[12] Don’t Bother (03:17.41)
[13] Star Baby [The Guess Who]
[14] end runout (00:42.37)
1994 MMA Showcase #2 of 3:
Carpetbaggers
ZuZu’s Petals
Bone Club
Live sound: Randy Hawkins
• • • •
This was a post-show review which appeared in my self-published ‘zine, The New Puritan ReView:
Zuzu’s Petals
Mpls. 7th St. Entry
8 Jul 94
Someone remarked to me that Zuzu’s Petals used to perform in t-shirts and jeans, now every time you see ’em, they look as though they just left the beauty salon. I had never really thought about it much, but it seemed true enough and it made me think: in a very understated manner, these three women are running ahead of the pack because they’re not afraid to take themselves seriously. Did it ever occur to anyone that being a woman in a rock band doesn’t require an apology or a revisionist dress code? More than just the “chemistry” that many bands like to talk about but often lack, Laurie, Coleen, + Linda mesh in a carefree collision of laid-back charm + die-hard rocker attitude, and are also a hell of a lot of fun to watch play.
Their set here, part of the Minnesota Music Awards showcase, was highlighted by a spirited version of the Guess Who’s “Star Baby”, with a rousing refrain from the Rolling Stones “Star Star” (“Starfucker” – you know the one) tossed in for good measure. Now here’s a band that actually deserves groupie recognition, but seem too smart to care. This set also featured a smattering of tunes from their upcoming release, The Music of Your Life, and the newer material proudly displayed a sharper edge than the songs from their debut LP, When No One’s Looking, keeping everyone on the tips of their toes the whole time. Zuzu’s Petals haven’t become merely slick – like a lot of groups who meticulously ponder over every note – just cooler, if you know what I mean.
J.Free © 1994, 2025; The New Puritan ReView
https://sonicarchives.com/taste/reviews/new-puritan-review/
• • • •
The following historical info is presented courtesy of wikipedia and the Internet Archive Wayback Machine
( http://www.minnesotamusicacademy.org/about.cfm ) :
The Minnesota Music Academy is a non-profit music institution in Minnesota; established in 1985 to promote the accomplishments of the Minnesota music community, and to provide recognition for Minnesota musicians who made exceptional contributions to the vitality of Minnesota music.
The MMA also operates a music festival / conference called The Icebreaker, which is held in conjunction with the Minnesota Music Awards presentation each year, and is designed to promote and educate the Minnesota music community.
During the Icebreaker Conference, the MMA arranges for as many music venues as possible to book only Minnesota acts, in order to showcase that year’s nominees at various music venues throughout the state.
• • • •
I haven’t heard any talk about MMA or Icebreaker since 2001, so I can’t confirm whether they are still active, but they certainly put together a few terrific bills during this three-day showcase in July of ’94. It seems I may have had to forgo the festivities on night 3 due to work obligations, but I was lucky enough to catch seven bands across the first two nights, culminating (for me, anyway) in this fast and furious set from Zuzu’s Petals. Following a fairly incendiary set from Bone Club, the band turned up the heat even more before they would turn the stage over to the “award-winning Carpetbaggers”, as Laurie laughingly quipped a few times during their set. Wasting no time, they ripped through eight of the eleven tracks from that LP from their current album, The Music Of Your Life, along with three favorites from their 1992 debut LP, When No One’s Looking, and wrapping things up with their cheeky version of the Randy Bachman-penned Star Baby, which features a clever nod to The Rolling Stones, in case anyone missed it. At this point in time, it seemed like the band was at the top of their game, and if you had tried to tell me that they would soon call it a day, I would never have believed it. Ah, the wild and wacky world of rock ’n roll. Dig it while you can!
• • • •
This is strictly an audience recording – there is definitely no SBD feed in the mix.
Notes on the cassette do not indicate whether this is a 1st or 2nd master tape, or a copy, but I can say with 100% certainty that these recordings were all original masters, due to the way each set was consecutively appended to to the end of a previous band’s set on the same tapes. I am about 87% certain that some of the bands were provided with copies of their sets. If I spaced anyone out during this time, my apologies; I was flying by the seat of pants in those days, and could barely keep up with myself most days.
Recorded / transferred by: J.Free / Sonic Archives [sonicarchives.com]
This fileset is a raw 24 Bit Depth / 48kHz Sample Frequency analog > digital transfer from original cassette masters; some minimal processing has been applied in the analog > digital transfer, as noted below.
Typically, no processing is applied to these analog > digital transfers, but it has been noted that some of the recordings I made in 1994 with the same deck seemed to be running a bit fast – likely the result of a slowed-down motor in the decks being used at that time.
For this recording, the pitch was digitally adjusted to approximately 440 Hz – the tuning standard for the musical note of A – specifically matching up track 3 – God Cries – with the same track from their 1992 LP, When No One’s Looking.
Additionally, the stereo image suffered from an uneven mix, due to the configuration of the PA speakers in the venue, which placed the high and midrange frequencies in the left channel, and the low and sub-bass frequencies in the right channel. A very slight (2%) Mid-Side Mix adjustment was applied to both channels, in an effort to compensate for the imbalanced signals.
Source:
2 Radio Shack / Tandy PZMs suspended from ceiling about 10 ft back from center stage facing stage L+R in X-Y configuration > small mixer [likely a TEAC 2A] > Sony TC-W345 Double Cassette Deck > master cassette
Lineage:
Recorded on two 2-channel Scotch Chrome (CrO2) Bias IEC Type II 70usEQ stereo cassettes [appended to two separate cassettes in an effort to conserve tape] > Nakamichi LX-3 cassette deck [Azimuth adjustments applied to playback head] > Edirol R-04 [RCA/analog in; 24-bit/48kHz transfer (.wav)] > PC [via USB] >
Sound Forge Pro 11.0 [Build 299] (minor adjustments):
Pitch decreased : -80.0cents >
2% Center Mid-Side Mix applied to left + right channels >
Volume adjustments to both channels to achieve optimal stereo image >
CD Wave Editor [Version 1.98; Windows Build Number: 0000.23F0] (sector boundary tracking) > Trader’s Little Helper [Version 2.7.0; Build 172] (Level 8 .wav > .flac conversion, .ffp)
Alternately, the original fileset of the original un-processed analog > digital transfer does exist; the caveats being that it runs fast and the stereo image is imbalanced.
• • • •
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive:
https://archive.org/details/zp1994-07-08.aud.flac2448
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