The Capstone Theatre in Liverpool played host to an unforgettable night of Genesis classics as Mama took to the stage on 26 April 2025, delivering a performance packed with energy, passion, and musical precision.
From the soaring melodies to the thunderous drum fills, the band transported the audience through the rich tapestry of Genesis’s legendary catalogue, leaving fans enthralled and eager for more. The Capstone Theatre reverberated with cheers, applause, and an undeniable connection between the band and their audience.
Captured through the lens of Mama’s official photographer, Dave Broome, these stunning images preserve the magic of the night—the moments of intensity, joy, and sheer musical craftsmanship that define a Mama show.
Scroll through the gallery below and relive the experience. Whether you were there soaking it all in or discovering the spectacle for the first time, these images tell the story of a band keeping the Genesis legacy alive in breathtaking style.
EDIT: Yes I know, artificial intelligence really goes overboard when writing web pages! 🙂
This weekend Mama’s 2025 shows kicked off in Liverpool at the Capstone Theatre which is a return visit for us after our great gig there last year.
Looking back on 2024, the band had a fantastic year culminating in our show supporting the very wonderful Vampire Weekend at The Civic Hall in Wolverhampton in front of an audience of over 3,000 people.
The Liverpool show begins a run of three concerts in three weeks, Liverpool, Louth and Runcorn, all of which are return visits for us and we are looking forward to playing live shows again with an updated set list of Genesis music.
Our merchandise desk will have some new additions too! As well as our usual band t-shirts, we will be selling our new live CD EP, entitled Three Songs Live Vol 1 which features live versions of No Son of Mine, Mama and The Lady Lies, all recorded at Heswall Hall last year. This is the first volume of five live CD EPs which will be released by the band. Plus you will be able to buy copies of John’s solo album Imposter Syndrome and the new Random Option album One.
Random Option features John, James and David alongside Brian Hulse and Antony Wretham from The Mousetrap Factory. You can check out the music on their new video World is Changing which is out now on You Tube.
We look forward to catching up with you at one of our 2025 shows, details of which are available on our website.
MW: So how are you all and what is happening with Mama?
JW: Well the band are fine. We obviously took a huge break during the pandemic as did everyone else, but we have had a couple of rehearsals lately and we can all still play and sing the music.
MW: So 2020 was a write off then?
JW: Pretty much yeah, no venues open and we couldn’t get together to even rehearse for most of the year, so it was tough for the band. Now please keep that in perspective with the suffering endured by millions of people during this period. Some losing loved ones and some just struggling to survive with mental health issues and economic issues and we really can’t complain. We had a couple close friends and fans of the band who lost their lives due to Covid-19 so you have to balance our frustrations against the wider issue here.
MW: Of course…
JW: But getting back to your question, we had to cancel some shows in Holland which we were a week away from playing when the pandemic struck. The rest of the shows we were fortunate enough to rearrange to 2022. It’s just unfortunate that Holland won’t let us into the country.
MW: So is Holland going to happen?
JW: Sadly no. The double whammy of Covid-19 and Brexit has put paid to us playing outside the UK for the foreseeable future. But we will be keeping our eye on the situation and you never know.
MW: Brexit?
JW: Yes sadly there are new rules for people working in the EU. We had to register every item of equipment and pay a charge for items and you can imagine we have a lot of equipment to register. Then there are other issues such as Red countries etc.
MW: Moving on, what about Genesis touring again. You must have been thrilled at that news?
JW: Of course. As fans ourselves we were thrilled at hearing that Genesis were going to tour again. Speaking for myself, I have seen every tour since 1981 by the band, so one final hurrah by them was more than I expected after 2007.
MW: Did the band go to any of the shows?
JW: Yes John Comish, James and your good self were at the Liverpool show on the 3rd of October.
MW: Did you all enjoy it.
JW: Of course. I was in tears a few times knowing how much this group of people mean to me. There was a lot of BS about Phil not being able to sing anymore. Well I can tell you that he was superb. The whole band were on fire and the show was the best I’ve seen since 1987.
MW: From my own perspective I loved the show and they sound like they were playing for their lives.
JW: Absolutely.
MW: It also proved that there are still a lot of people who want to hear Genesis music played live.
JW: Yes, that was nice to see as sometimes it does feel like we are banging our heads against a brick wall trying to convince people of that… Venues mainly (laughing).
MW: So a big shot in the arm for Mama then?
JW: Hopefully yes. I think the Genesis tour has revitalised us all. If I’m honest I did think of retiring during the darkest days of 2020. It just seemed like a huge effort to get the band moving again and I wasn’t sure I was up to it?
MW: Really?
JW: Yes. The effort required contacting venues, arranging dates, doing rehearsals and travelling to and from venues etc, seemed too much as one point for me. There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes with Mama that the audience never sees. All they see are five people on stage playing. A show for them means a happy two and a half hours. A show for us means a happy two and a half hours on stage and a not so happy 14 hour day away from our families. Not to mention rehearsal time, promotion effort and costs.
MW: What changed you mind then?
JW: The first rehearsal after 14 months. Yes. I went into the rehearsal room thinking, “if this doesn’t go well then I have to make the call to carry on or not.” So after we set the equipment up and made noises for a bit we started a new song. Halfway through the first verse I knew I was staying. The band sounded great, as good as it ever did. It’s fair to say that rehearsal saved me.
MW: What was the new song?
JW: Burning Rope. It’s always been a favourite of mine and to have the chance to sing that was brilliant.
Through the eyes of JW... Genesis @ Liverpool
MW: So… The Next Domino? How did that happen?
JW: We had talked about doing an audio recreation of whatever Genesis played on this tour as soon as it was announced. We guessed that we probably played a lot of the songs in the past anyway, so it seemed like a good idea. When the tour was postponed we didn’t know if it would go ahead so we still needed to refresh our live set. So we learned four new songs. They will still be played at some shows where we have two nights at the same venue. Now we have seen the Genesis show we are all very keen to do the set they did.
MW: Will you be lowering the song keys like Genesis did?
JW: No. It’s a lot of mucking around and it then makes it easier for mistakes to creep in so we will be playing them in the normal keys as I can still sing them thankfully (laughing).
MW: What about the visual aspect of the tour?
JW: Well we have gone out and spent ten million quid on a light show (laughs). No we are revamping some aspects of the show though.
MW: Sounds great. So when does this all start?
JW: We have one show in 2021 at The Atkinson Theatre in Southport where we will play our normal set with a couple of those new songs thrown in. Then we will start rehearsals for The Next Domino shows in 2022.
MW: So many more years of Genesis music to come from Mama then?
JW: Well things can change in a moment, but yeah, we plan to be here for a while.
MW: Good! Well good luck with the shows and see you soon.
JW: Thanks.
As always, questions, comments and ditties can be posted below and we’ll try to answer each and every one!
We interview Mama singer John Wilkinson, just because it’s the easiest way to get all the latest news about what’s happening with the band!
Before we start though, there’s just a quick mention for our next show which is at The Cavern in Liverpool this Thursday. That’s Thursday 8th February 2018! If you want tickets, head over to The Cavern website for them.
MW: We are pleased to be able to speak again with John W about the past year and the trials and tribulations that beset the band in 2017, plus their plans for 2018.
MW:Hi John! How’s things?
JW:Okay thanks for asking. After last year it is good to leave 2017 behind to be honest.
MW:Not the best year for the band then?
JW:To be fair, it started out great. But no. We had both James and Darren leave for the same reasons; they wanted to spend more time with their families which means we have to get new musicians in, which takes time for them to bed in and feel comfortable. Then we had John C‘s son Dan who was seriously injured in Australia and of course the band was put on hold for a couple of months. We were lucky with Tim but replacing Darren has proven to be trickier. Mark Comish was going to step in and help until a permanent replacement could be found but sadly that didn’t happen. No ones fault at all but we had to cancel the Dutch shows again.
MW:Yes what happened there?
JW:The promoter was superb and we will be trying to get back there in 2019 but the fact is I asked everyone I could think of to step in. In reality, it was very short notice. We couldn’t find anyone.
MW:Do you have a replacement guitarist now?
JW:Yes. Jonathan Vatilkotis from Vesbim Floyd and Pink Floydian has joined full time. He is a huge Genesis fan as well as a Floyd fan and he approached us as soon as he heard we were on the lookout for a guitarist. Great player and just as important, a great bloke too. He loves all era Genesis but his favourite album is A Trick Of The Tail.
MW:So we can look forward to more songs from that album then?
JW:(Laughs) Yes well, we need to re-vamp the setlist anyways as some of these songs we’ve been playing since we started. Some songs need a rest and we will probably be dropping Duke’s Travels and Dukes End for now as well as In The Cage Medley.
MW:Whoa! In The Cage? Isn’t that one of the highlights of the show?
JW:I know but we have not changed it since we started. We are planning to go even further back in time for replacements however, so the fans will be happy I am sure.
MW:So when can we expect to hear these new songs then?
JW:Well we’re hoping to do two new songs at The Cavern on the 8th Feb, but it all depends on rehearsals really. I can honestly say that the songs we have in mind will surprise most of the people who have followed us since the beginning.
MW:Anything else to report? We’re hungry for news!
JW:Well we do have a project on the go which is not really Mama, but will utilise all the Mama musicians. Can’t say too much about this now but it does involve recording and playing an album live.
MW:Is that The Swan Chorus?
JW:No that is a separate thing that just Dave and I are involved in and that album has been recorded and we’re just looking for a record company to release it now. This is a totally different project that we have been asked to do. Honestly I cannot say too much but hopefully it will all be clear very soon. Dave is also in a band called Plenty with Tim Bowness who readers may have heard of and their album is out in February I understand.
JW:No, but knowing the quality of Tim’s writing and Dave’s playing it will be great. I have blagged a copy off Dave when it’s released (laughs).
MW: Maybe you could persuade Tim Bowness to give us a signed copy, so we can run a competition on the Mama website and give it away?
MW:What about a JW solo album?
JW:(Laughs) Never really thought about that. I can make a nice noise on keys and also play a bit of guitar. I do have the equipment to record. I just don’t have the songs… Or the time (laughs). Dave is recording an album and I have agreed to sing on a few songs on that.
MW:So no “Face Value” in the works?
JW:More like “Farce Value” at the moment… No plans to do so yet. Too busy with home and being in three musical projects already.
MW:Still see James and Darren?
JW:Oh yes we’re still in contact with the guys and indeed if we ever need a stand in, they have said they will do it. In fact, I think James is coming to see us at The Cavern on Thursday and Darren is covering some of the guitar duties at that show too, before we can get Jon up to speed. Two guitarists on stage? Could work… (laughs) Hopefully we will finally get a double drums show with Tim and James going later this year.
MW:Well thanks John and I wish Mama the best for 2018. Let’s hope it’s a better year than 2017.
JW:Cheers and a big thanks to the Mama fans who have stuck by us during these difficult few months. Thanks everyone!
