“The Miami
Showband Massacre” is a documentary from the “Remastered” series, now streaming
on Netflix.
The band known
as “the Miami” was the most popular showband in Ireland in the early 1970s. A "showband", I learned, is what today we would call a "cover band"-a group that
would perform songs made by other bands.
The Miami Showband was the most popular of all the showbands on the scene at that time. Dubbed the Irish Beatles, there were six members in the group in 1975:
Tony Geraghty, Fran O'Toole, Ray Miller, Des Lee, Brian McCoy
and Stephen Travers.
Image
source:
In Ireland in
the early 1970s, there were two parts of the country:
Northern
Ireland, loyal to the British crown, Protestant
Republic
of Ireland: desired to be independent of the British Crown, Catholic
This time in
Ireland was known as “the Troubles”, a time of war between both sides in
Ireland beginning in the 1960s. Bloodshed and bombings were a daily occurrence. A terrorist group on one side would detonate a bomb; the next day, a terrorist group on the other side would then detonate a bomb in
retaliation. This tit for tat bombing was a way of life in Ireland.
One of the
features of life in Ireland that seemed to be immune to the war between
sections was music. Showbands played to concert halls filled with young adults
who were both Catholic and Protestant. Showbands could travel to Northern
Ireland and to the Republic of Ireland without any problems. That all changed on
July 31, 1975.
The Miami
Showband had been playing a concert in another town, and began the journey
home. One of the members of the band drove himself home after the gig; the
other 5 members were traveling home in a mini tour bus.
Along their route home,
the mini bus was stopped at a road block. All five members got out of the van
and were interrogated by troops in uniform. One British officer, who seemed to
be in charge of the road block, walked to the group’s mini bus, and then returned to where the men were standing. Moments later, a
bomb went off in the mini bus.
Three men from the Miami Showband, Tony Geraghty, Fran O’Toole, and Brian McCoy, were knocked off their
feet by the bomb blast. They were then shot and killed by the troops.
Two other men from the Miami, Ray Miller and Stephen Travers, were blown off the side of the road, and landed a small ditch; as they stood up, trying to get their bearings, they began to hear gunfire. The troops
who had been interrogating them were now firing on them. They did not yet know that the other three band mates were dead.
The attack on the band was premeditated. The truth of what happened that night has more twists and turns than any movie Hollywood could create, involving espionage at some of the highest levels of government.
"The Miami Showband Massacre" covers the history of the band, the massacre, as well as those responsible.
As an audience member, I was glued to my seat. The documentary was riveting.
"Remastered: The Miami Showband Massacre", now streaming on
Netflix. 5 stars.
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