Be Here Now: The Last Conspirators @ Valentine’s, 7/15/11

Friday night in the city of the dead.

It’s too easy to say passion for music is a young man’s game. To fly the flag a long time is a hard thing. Tim Livingston – frontman for the Last Conspirators – continues to burn with the need to generate real rock with a true sense of punk urgency. Pounding out the mid-tempo, well-crafted numbers tempered with maturity yields a Social Distortion-like state of mind.

The Last Conspirators are a murderer’s row of musicians. With Al Kash on drums, Terry Plunkett on guitar and Jeff Sohn on bass, they are players who can (along with Livingston) trace their roots to the Units, Names For Numbers and the Morons (a who’s-who of first generation Albany punk).

Making one of their all-too-rare public performances, the Last Conspirators will take the stage at Valentine’s Music Hall in Albany on Friday night, dishing out selections from their debut album “Warparty,” their latest EP “When It All Comes Down” and some brand new tunes, as well.

Opening the show is Spike Priggen, a veteran of the Connecticut music scene. In fact, Spike was in a precursor of the band that became Miracle Legion. After a long run in NYC music scene, he recently relocated to the Hudson area. Spike has a prestigious output of brilliant power pop. Fans of our own John Brodeur will find themselves right at home in front of Spike’s solo set of rock with a la la la!

Closing the Friday night bill is the Sandy McKnight Fiasco with the prolific McKnight leading Chris Peifer (500 Hats, the Staziaks), Nick Bisanz and John Easy Emmet, who promise no let-down in the action. And an all-star jam is threatening to break out at the end of the night.

It all comes down at Valentine’s Music Hall in Albany on Friday with Spike Priggen (9pm), the Last Conspirators (9:30pm) and the Sandy McKnight Fiasco (10:30pm).

Story by Matt Mac Haffie