Teenage angst filled the air in Club Congress on Monday night—a line stretched around the lobby of Hotel Congress as young alternative types eagerly awaited indie-band Never Shout Never’s show.  After the opening time was pushed back 30 minutes, and then another 30 minutes, the first opener Me Like Bees began playing as the crowd funneled in.

Opening bands tend to be forgotten or permanently remembered as a musical link to the headliner, but Me Like Bees found a way to make a name for themselves in their brief set. 

Both bands hail from Joplin, Missouri and kicked off their national tour in Tucson. 
Never Shout Never put on a great show—the dozens of swooning girls in the audience would definitely agree—but Me Like Bees pumped rock and roll into the veins of these young concert goers in a powerful performance. 

Along with the other opening band, Hundred Handed, Me Like Bees and Never Shout Never both stem from a dance-rock alternative type sound and encompass different types of rock music. Never Shout Never stuck to their more acoustic style, while Me Like Bees brought the house down with a high-intensity set.  

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The lead singer and rhythm guitarist Luke Sheafer joined the band in 2012. He’s good friends with the guys from Never Shout Never, but his band’s music doesn’t necessarily fit into the same mold. 

“I don’t know if there’s a lot of interaction between bands on tour,” Sheafer said “Everybody’s kind of doing their own thing thing.” 

He cites a variety of early 2000’s rockers like Jack White and Franz Ferdinand as major influences in his musical upbringing. These influences run deep in Me Like Bees’ sound, but the band clearly has their own thing going. They fused an indie-rock attitude with dance-rock beats and riffs, topped off with a powerful southern rock sound and a punk-rock stage presence. 

No band necessarily likes to have these labels thrown on them, but these types of genre comparisons are inevitable when a band is able to combine so many enthralling musical elements. 

Shaefer said that there’s been a million iterations of what rock-and-roll is. Nevertheless, he encourages aspiring musicians to forget about the labels and express themselves authentically. “Do what you want and don’t worry about what’s cool,” Sheafer said. “You’re not going to stay ahead of [the trend]. If you want to play guitar, get a guitar and play it.” 

He added that music is always progressing and it can feel impossible to constantly stay on the cutting edge. 

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In a musical world filled with electronic beats, rave-bros and everyone looking for the next “sickest beat drop,” Me Like Bees brought a refreshing rock-and-roll sound to the Dirty T. The band absolutely killed it—their set rose in intensity as it went on, culminating in a beautiful clash of hyper-powered guitar riffs and vocals. 

Void of any pretention, Me Like Bees just aimed to put on a good show and make it a memorable experience—they even created a Snapchat geotag for their show.
“You just try to put on a good show for the people coming and hopefully they leave with some memories,” Sheafer said. 

The crowd may have been intimate, but Me Like Bees definitely created some larger-than-life memories for the audience with a blast of good ol’ American rock and roll.

Follow Sean Orth on Twitter.