The tragic history of the Miami Showband is back in focus with the release of My Saxophone Saved My Life by Des Lee, written with Ken Murray.
The memoir recounts Lee’s survival of the Miami Showband Massacre on July 31, 1975 — a night when UVF gunmen murdered three of his bandmates during a fake army checkpoint in Northern Ireland.
A Harrowing Night in 1975
The Miami Showband, one of Ireland’s most beloved groups, had just finished a performance in Banbridge, County Down. As they drove back toward Dublin, they were stopped by what appeared to be a British Army patrol. In reality, it was a UVF unit, some of whom also served in the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR).
Their plan to plant a bomb under the minibus went horribly wrong when it exploded prematurely, killing two paramilitaries instantly. In the chaos, the gunmen opened fire on the band.
“First to die was Brian McCoy, shot in the back,” Lee recalls. Guitarist Tony Geraghty and trumpeter Fran O’Toole were also executed. O’Toole was shot 22 times; his wounds were so severe a doctor mistook him for a woman. Lee and bassist Stephen Travers survived by playing dead beside their murdered friends.
