Over 1 million children in Britain suffer through bad housing according to Shelter, the national housing charity, and they are asking London to sign their “Million Children Campaign”. This campaign is calling for greater investment into new homes, more support for neighbourhoods and services to combat the problem of homelessness; and in doing so, secure children’s well-being. Shelter’s director Adam Sampson says “this is a serious issue for those of us living in the capital. But with a live performance from ’10,000Things’ it should also be good entertainment!”

Many of us wonder what the hell happened to the state of public transport - no one knows whether it’s coming or going, but today it is about to take a turn for the truly bizarre. Waiting outside Shelter’s HQ on Old Street is a bus, but this is not just any bus, oh no ladies and gentlemen, this is THE bus! Bedecked with Shelter’s banner and balloons, Rm13 has just reached the open top deck where the band are setting themselves up. Amps fill most of the seats; Justin’s percussion kit blocks the front part of the deck; Stobb’s drums take up residency by the stairs and a seat base has been removed to accommodate one of the cymbals. Clambering over the equipment, the rest of the Things position themselves - Will and Davro (guitar) right at the front, George (bass) in the middle and Things front man, Sam just behind. Now drive like you stole it! The bus lurches slowly forwards.

“Good afternoon” slurs Sam.

Suggestions from the rest of the band for a guided tour are soon forgotten as 10,000Things begin their assault on London with “Foodchain”; a bluesy based number that gets everyone moving. A few confused pedestrians look at us with polite curiosity as the Things move onto the brilliant “Oh No” with its tight bass line. Leaning dangerously over the side Sam belts out lines like “she looks so different with her clothes on” to the confused public whose politely curious looks quickly develop into ones of sheer bewilderment. This number really sets the pace for the rest of the day - full of stops and starts, laughs and damn good riffs. We pull up by Kings Cross station just as “Oh No” ends, stopping at the traffic lights. This may be the only bus in London that rocks, but even we’ve got to stop at the red lights!

Moving on to Ian Dury’s classic “Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick” the Things cruise on through the city. Davro and Will, both grinning like Cheshire cats have jumped up on the seats, and Sam is sprawled coolly across the one 4th from the back. Those waiting at the bus stop wonder what’s happened to the no.30 as we drive past.

“Run away lover boy” sings Sam as Shelter moves onwards. Forget listening to the radio when you’re driving, ‘cause we’ve got a live band instead, and boy are these guys alive and kicking! Everyone’s having a blast - claps, waves and smiles are aplenty as the Good Bus Shelter sails through London’s traffic to the first drop off point by the UCL. The occupants of the lower deck depart with Shelter’s red chair and the petitions. Despite being stationary the whole bus is shaking from the amazing sounds that are streaming out of the amps on which 10,000Things are precariously sitting/standing on- “this is my town!” they sing out amid the noise of the students (many of whom are standing open mouthed at us). Too damn right it is, too damn right.

So far it’s been a breeze - we’ve had some tunes that are simply pure rock n’ roll, we’ve confused part of the population and we’ve annoyed the totty at the Marlborough as we passed, but all is not plain sailing. The powers screwed. Desperately trying to cool down the generator, the day’s organiser, Sarah is madly flapping a Shelter t-shirt around the fan. Meanwhile Stobb and Justin take the lead with an interesting percussion set. It’s still screwed when we reach the end of the road. Another stop at the traffic lights and Shelter’s photographer has leapt out of the bus to take some shots, looking back we see him dash for the bus which he only just makes. Justin proves to be a man of many skills when he gets the generator working again. “Shelter! Shelter!” cries Sam as more campaigners get off the bus.

Turning down Oxford Street the feedback gets louder and heavier as 10,000Things thrust “Can’t Do Nothing” upon the many shoppers swarming around the stores. This number features on their double A side “Titanium/Can’t Do Nothing” and is what can only be described as brilliant. Fast drums and percussion, a mean bass line and mature vocals; this number really comes to life with axes adding more meat.

Although their single was out on the 18th of this month, the album’s not due for a while. Sam: “The album? That’s a good question, it should be the end of January, the beginning of February, so we’re gonna spend till then touring, we’ll have a few days off, then probably go back out”. “Yeah.” agrees Will.

Half way through and the generator’s gone again and everyone grabs the nearest bit of Justin’s percussion kit as he and Stobb lead another solo before it starts up and we go “Back To Mine”. Despite being on the top of a bus with barely enough space to stand, Sam still manages to strut the deck with more shimmer than Mick Jagger during this one, and although, as the guys so rightly put it, “we should be cruising through time and space by now” we won’t be if this bloody generator packs up again.

“People of London, we are new to your ways” announces the artful dodger of a front man as we drive down to Piccadilly Circus.

“Sssssss”. A long hiss shivers out of the amps as 10,000Things descend into “Snake”, a sinfully good song about an animal that has been dealt a bad hand according to the band. But the best is yet to come. There has got to be something so satisfying in rolling down Regent Street howling out “Eating’s Not Cheating” at every passer by. Thank God they finish it in time as the accursed generator has packed in once again.

Around the circus, down into Haymarket and Stobb and Sarah still can’t make it start up. Along Shaftsbury Avenue- it gets a little better and...Yes! We are back in business by Frith Street. A song later and… “DUCK!” shouts someone. Narrowly avoiding decapitation by branch Rm13 looks back at the trees the bus has just driven under. “Get the…oh fuck”. Sam’s cut short by the lack of power. Trying to get the bloody generator going AGAIN, Stobb twists his arm and there’s a moment of concern despite his assurances that he’ll be fine; thankfully he is and it’s sorted as we fly past Russell Street.

George, Davro and Will are having a laugh up at the front, watching the photographers scrambling up and over the seats, but they all fall to pieces when Sam - sitting very proudly on top of one of the amps has his hat knocked off by an incredibly low branch, the rest of us just get smacked across the face and now the deck is covered in leaves. The Things are going strong and “down down down…” the generator slowly dies outside the UCL. All the students have abandoned their work to watch us in our plight. “We’ve got no power” Sam shouts as he shrugs at them. “It’s not like you were learning anything anyway” he adds.

As Shelter's crew and the Things manager all take turns in ripping the generator's cord, the rest of us are just chilling. Refreshments are passed around, Davro’s in a world of his own, and all of the band move to the front where they can just be heard playing “Teenage Kicks”.

“We’ve done a couple of gigs with Babyshambles, Kain and a gig with Razorlight” replies Sam when asked what they’ve been doing recently. The Babyshambles gig they were due to play at were the notorious Scottish ones, which were, as Will points out “pretty fucking mental”.

Sam: “We were all leaning out of the window watching the chaos…”
Will: (laughs) “You nearly got arrested for inciting a riot didn’t you?!”
Sam: “I started waving at people out of the window and sort of half geeing them up and this cop comes round an calls me a (puts on a very convincing Scottish accent) “fucking shit for breathing” and said that he’d arrest me for inciting a riot if I went near the window”
Will: “You should have got arrested!”
Sam: “I wish I had gone straight back to the window!”
Speaking of riots, Rm13: Have you ever had anything interesting thrown at you on stage?
Sam: “A girl once threw herself at me. That was in Newcastle, on the tour, she elbowed the bouncer out of the fucking way. Stobb had knickers thrown at him, but I don’t think they were aiming for him! They were clean as well!” he says indignantly “so she’d obviously taken some along with her in her bag rather than take them off!”

If you guys had a bra who would you throw it at?
Will: “Do we know any hot lesbians?”
Sam: “…bird from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs maybe, Sugarbabes. “The Sugarbabes?!” says Will half laughing, half in disbelief. We really hope Sam’s joking here unlike…

“There’s white stuff in the fuel tank” someone says. It does look dubious. Everyone seems to agree that this generator is well and truly buggered and the next few minutes are spent deciding what the hell can be done. Go all the way back up to Kings Cross to get a new one - nope, too far. Run cables out of the uni - sorry, no can do.

Rm13: How did you guys get involved with Shelter?
Sam: “I'm not really sure how we were picked to get involved in it, dunno whether anyone at Shelter had seen us play or something…”
Will: “We have some mates, who work for Shelter, but they’re up North, perhaps that’s how they heard of us, but we were really excited.”
Sam: “It was good fun wasn’t it that?”
Will: “Yeah it was a good laugh”.
Sam: “It was hard to stand up though we were swaying all over the place…”
Will: “It was a shame about the generator though”.
Sam: “At least we had all them toys though!” (their percussion set). “What was up with the generator did anyone work it out?”
Will: “It was overheating wasn’t it?”
Rm13: Yeah, and there was some dubious white stuff found floating in the fuel tank. “Pretty fucking useless!” Sam retorts
Rm13: And there were loads of petrol fumes coming out the back
Sam: “I wasn’t getting any of that. There were a few branches that nearly decapitated me and knocked off my red hat!”

Not to be deterred from their task 10,000Things begin a salsa percussion set that lasts us all the way back to Old Street. Tapping on the back window of the bus in front, waving and shouting we’re still having a laugh (although this is stopped briefly when we’re all violently thrown about a foot in the air as the bus hurtles over the road humps). Even when we arrive back at base they’re still going amid claps and cheers.

The music may slowly die down but the mood is still as high as a kite.