Another month, another parade of unforgettable nights — and even more unforgettable messes.

Being a casual cleaner on the night shift at Leeds Arena isn’t glamorous, but I’ve started to realise it gives me a strange kind of backstage pass to the city’s biggest moments. May 2025 was a rollercoaster: from dancefloor anthems to 12-hour marathons, I’ve swept up beer, glitter, and even a rogue dart (yep, seriously).

Let me walk you through it, one night at a time.

May 2nd – Clubland

If you lived through the early 2000s, Clubland was basically the soundtrack of every teen disco and dodgy house party. And let me tell you: the crowd that turned up on May 2nd was ready to relive it. Laser lights, pounding bass, and neon everything. The arena looked like a rave had a baby with a glow stick factory. We were finding crushed sunglasses and plastic visors in the aisles all night. Cleaning up after Clubland? Like tidying up after a time machine ride to 2003.

May 8th – Darts (Sky Sports) – 12-Hour Shift

This was the one. The legendary darts night. Packed house. Pint after pint. And then… more pints. The crowd was rowdy (in the best way), and the atmosphere was unreal — chants, cheers, and inflatable costumes flying everywhere. The 12-hour night shift afterward was no joke. By hour 9, I think I started hallucinating dart boards in the ceiling tiles. We filled an entire bin bag just with pint cups from one row.

May 9th – Olly Murs

Talk about a switch-up. After the darts chaos, Olly Murs felt like a nice palette cleanser. He brought pop bangers and cheeky charm — and the arena smelled less like beer and more like perfume and prosecco. The fans were in good spirits (and heels), and honestly, it was one of the lighter clean-ups of the month. A few feather boas and lipstick-stained cups were the worst of it.

May 10th – Bryan Adams

This one was a proper throwback. Bryan Adams still has it — that raw, gravelly voice and a catalogue of songs that hit everyone right in the nostalgia. The crowd leaned older, but they were loud, emotional, and completely locked in from start to finish. When “Summer of ‘69” kicked off, the place absolutely lit up — a full arena belting it out like it was 1984 all over again.

Clean-up that night felt almost peaceful. Couples wandered out arm in arm, still wrapped up in the music. On the floor? A few cider cans, some stray leather jackets — and something pretty special: a Bryan Adams-branded guitar pick, sitting there near the stage like it was waiting to be found.

I kept it, of course — and it now lives in a special place alongside another pick I found earlier this year, on February 19th, after the Pantera show. That night, my brother had been in the crowd. I started my shift just as he and the rest of the fans were clearing out, house lights up, amps cooling down. Two totally different nights, two totally different vibes — but both left something behind that I’ll always remember.

You can read more about that Pantera night here:

👉 Behind the Scenes – A Month in the Life of a Leeds Arena Cleaner (February 2025)

It’s funny — the arena always feels huge when it’s full, but sometimes it’s the tiny things left behind that stick with you the most.

May 14th – UKIFDA Conference (???)

So… I’ll be honest. I still don’t know what UKIFDA stands for. Some sort of industry event — maybe oil, fuel, trucks? Whatever it was, it had less confetti and more high-vis vests. The clean-up wasn’t bad, just long. Tables, coffee stations, leftover pens and branded stress balls everywhere. It was like cleaning up after a very tidy but oddly intense family reunion. No bass drops, but lots of stale sandwiches.

May 24th – Scissor Sisters

This one popped off. Glitter, fishnets, feathers — everything you’d expect and then some. The crowd was electric, the stage setup was wild, and the floor? Absolutely covered in sequins, drink stirrers, and rainbow flags. Honestly, it was one of the most fun messes to clean. Everyone left smiling. Even us, once we’d scooped up the tenth boa.

May 25th – Leeds Rhinos Netball vs Manchester Thunder

Sport again, but a very different vibe from darts. The netball crowd was focused, passionate, and polite — and the game itself was intense. The rivalry between Leeds and Manchester was real, but respectful. Afterward, the mess was mostly popcorn, snack wrappers, and a few banners. Shortest shift of the month, but it was cool seeing an arena that’s usually booming with concerts transform into a battleground for fast-paced netball action.

Final Thoughts

May tested our stamina. That 12-hour darts shift nearly finished me off, and I may never hear “Summer of ‘69” the same way again. But there’s something satisfying about seeing the arena go from a chaotic whirlwind of energy to spotless silence, knowing we made that transformation happen.

No one claps for the cleaners, but I don’t mind. Our applause is the echo of an empty arena — quiet, clean, and ready for whatever comes next.

Bring on June.