Category: Gigs

SXSW 2014: The best things I saw – Protex Protex at Hotel Vegas in Austin for SXSW. (Photo by Michael Mayer) By Michael Mayer The SXSW venue called Hotel Vegas was the home for dozens of excellent garage rock bands, most made up of youngsters in search of some exposure and a good writeup or two. In the midst of it all, this group of fifty-somethings blew everyone else away with their pop-punk jamming. Members of other bands on the night’s bill stood stageside and rocked approvingly. Protex formed in Ireland in 1977, inspired by a Clash concert credited by many with kickstarting the Irish punk movement. The name, originally Protex Blue, came from a song on the Clash’s UK debut album. The band broke up three years later after…