The Mama Tour

"Genesis Live - The Mama Tour" is a 1984 home video featuring footage from a Genesis concert in February of that year. It was filmed at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, England, and directed by Jim Yukich.

Two thirds of the group's then current eponymous album appear on this video: the singles "Mama", "That's All" and "Illegal Alien", the B-side of "Mama", "It's Gonna Get Better", and the two-piece suite "Home by the Sea/Second Home by the Sea".

Two singles from the previous album "Abacab" are also performed ("Keep It Dark" and the title track), and the set is rounded off with a medley of songs from their seventies period and the stage favourite "Turn It On Again". The latter song diverges into a medley of well-known songs by artists from bygone years, while the "In the Cage" suite includes extracts from "The Cinema Show" and an uncredited "...in that quiet earth".

The only tracks that were not included on the video that were performed at the shows were the show's opening track "Dodo/Lurker", the "Eleventh Earl of Mar"/"The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway"/"Firth Of Fifth/"The Musical Box" medley, and "Los Endos".

The artwork incorporates aspects of the sleeves from the "Mama" single and the album "Genesis", and also gives a nod to the lightshow for which the band was well-known.

"The Mama Tour" was the second Genesis video released, the first being "Three Sides Live" in 1982. Neither VHS release has been reissued on DVD. Like "Three Sides Live", it is hoped by many fans that the film will eventually be reissued on a modern digital format. If the original 16mm film reels are still in existence, the prospect exists for the entire concert to be recut with the aforementioned tracks that were originally omitted. As of late May 2008, in a recent online interview at www.genesis-music.com, Tony Banks has mentioned the prospect that "The Mama Tour" film is being worked on in the future for a DVD release. However it is highly unlikely it will feature any extra footage not in the original film.

Track listing

# "Abacab"
# "That's All"
# "Mama"
# "Illegal Alien"
# "Home By The Sea"
# "Second Home By The Sea"
# "Keep It Dark"
# "It's Gonna Get Better"
# "In the Cage/Cinema Show/In That Quiet Earth/Slippermen"
# "Afterglow"
# "Drum Duet"
# "Turn It On Again (with medley)"