Miami men make Belfast comeback

By Abigail Armstrong
BBC News

The name will forever be associated with the killings which shocked the country - but now the Miami Showband have come back together again to help others caught up in conflict.

Thirty three years after the band was devastated by the murder of three of its members in a UVF ambush, they returned to perform in Belfast for the first time.

The band reformed shortly after the incident, but the legacy of the killings cast a shadow over its subsequent projects.

Bassist Steve Travers told BBC News he felt it "wasn't really about the music any more", and the band members parted ways within a year.

He said it was not until he had co-wrote the book "The Miami Massacre: A Survivor's Search for the Truth", that it felt right for the band to reform again.

The Miami Showband at the height of their fame

The surviving band members performed together again in 2005 to mark the 30th anniversary of the shootings and have not looked back since.

At the big night in Belfast's Grand Opera House, the memories of singer Fran O'Toole, guitarist Tony Geraghty and trumpeter Brian McCoy were remembered by band and audience alike.

And the Miami men have a new impetus for their creative talent.

The work of the charity Children in Crossfire, which Mr Travers saw first-hand in a visit to Tanzania, gave the musicians a new drive to perform together again in public.

All profits from Wednesday's sold-out concert in Belfast's Grand Opera House will go to the charity.

The packed show not only raised vital funds for the children's charity, it also proved to be a great night out for the band's many fans.

The son of the band's drummer Ray Miller told the BBC it was "fantastic" to see his dad on stage again after all these years.

Meanwhile, one devoted fan who attended the showband's concerts back in 1969 said: "It was a wonderful night; we danced and we loved it".