You stumble onto public transport, bleary eyed and tired because you didn’t have time to get your morning coffee, and are greeted by the sound of a rock concert.

That’s what London commuters taking the Thames Clipper got this morning as they stepped onto the ferry into a packed cabin with The Darkness.

Starting at Woolwich pier at 8.30am, the band played to a mixture of enthralled, confused and occasionally indifferent commuters.

The low roof of the boat made for a surprisingly effective acoustically-sound stage and the swaying of the deck successfully re-created the sensation that the lead singer had too much to drink before coming on stage rather than just struggling to stay upright due to the waves.

It was of course a publicity stunt for the band’s latest album, which included a song about how terrible Southern Rail is - a fitting song to play to commuters.

The audience consisted of the ferry crew, a few journalists, a smattering of super fans who had heard about the event beforehand, but primarily regular commuters.

Gadlock got onto the boat with his two-year-old child and loved what he saw. He said: “I’m a regular commuter on this boat and this is great. She is loving it too.”

The reactions were primarily one of baffled amusement, with people taking out phones to take pictures and quickly google the band they swear they had heard of before, didn’t they play that one song about believing in love?

William got on at North Woolwich. He said: “I have been taking this commute for several years and I have never seen anything like this.

“It was quite a bit of fun but if it was like this every week it would be…interesting.”

Sometimes families would be at the pier, herding children and suitcases as they travelled to relatives, only to hop on the boat and be greeted by a grinning drummer in a sailor outfit.

Kaja had come over with her husband and young child from Zurich to visit friends. She said: “This is not what we were expecting and this is something we will have to tell them. It’s great but we had to go outside as it’s a little bit much for our child.”

Other commuters were less interested, not even taking out their headphones and completely ignored the band as though they were unimpressive buskers.

Jonathon sat at the back of the boat and stared blankly ahead on his 9am commute. “I am a semi-regular commuters on here and this is just like any other commute” he said.

“I am completely indifferent to them showing up.”