One of the features of the old quietzine.com was an archive of photos from shows in Sylva and nearby towns. We will periodically highlight a selection from this archive, beginning with this one, featuring Libianca and Maesta, two Sylva bands legendary for slightly different reasons.
Click here to view the gallery.
The pictured show took place at House On Broad Street, a residence in downtown Sylva inhabited by, among others, John Henry and Manuel of Libianca. For a glorious period of six months or so, they opened their living room to a variety of local and touring bands, incurring in the process a number of broken windows.
Libianca existed for perhaps less than a year, but managed to achieve their legendary status due to an intense live show and a decidedly unusual approach to heavy music, pairing wildly confessional vocals with byzantine, slowly-echoing guitars. They were the subject of a feature in issue #4 of Quiet, and singer John Henry Gloyne provided the cover art for issue #3.
Maesta were the signature band of the short-lived show space at 609 Mill Street. Essentially the work of local scene heavies overcoming questionable musicianship by sheer force of personality, Maesta simultaneously charmed and terrified audiences as both a three-piece and four-piece, before finally assuming the moniker Viva La Slut Ass Neck and ending their reign of terror under a merciless hail of cream pies (seriously).