The name Nic Andrews spurs inside me a sentimental energy, a symbol of everything Stoke’s scene can be. My first ever gig was the immense Tsunami appeal show at the King’s Hall, where I witnessed the front man scale the balcony, screaming out his lyrics effortlessly, whilst simultaneously pouring his entire being into his performance with Agent Blue. Immediately I was hooked. Several years later, on my local music show Radical’s Rising, on 6 Towns Radio, I was given a Moscow EP, a piece of white A4 paper wrapped around a simple CD, held together by duct tape. The message was clear. This wasn’t about fancy gimmicks, it wasn’t about adhering to the rules of the industry. The rules of the industry don’t apply to people like us because they aren’t there to support people like us. Contained within the CD were glorious songs such as Lizard Lords which, as explained to Bitter Sweet Symphonies back in 2013, is about ‘the simple fact the world is run by blood drinking, shape-shifting reptilian overlords.’ Some things never change, ay?

Before we tread a little too precariously towards an ageing fool looking back on his youthful days, let’s fast forward instead to the current, where we can say with absolute certainty that the re-imaged Moscow are back, now under the banner of MFK, and they most definitely are not fucking about. A string of quite frankly ridiculous shows to declare the bands arrival, including a Christmas show at Keele Uni, a sell out gig at Artisan Tap, and the monstrous show at Trentham’s Stoke 100 event, sees MFK catapult themselves almost instantly to the top of the hot list for Stoke music in 2025.

The band have now reworked and released Down, and Pack Animals, sticking with the infallible UTC Studio, and it is invigorating to see the band full of the controlled chaos which has always been at the forefront of any performance from Andrews. With a new line up and bags of energy, the band now take on The Underground, with support coming from none other than Camp Stag themselves.