08/26/2026
Join us at the last ForWard Concert of the season! See you tonight at Cook Park 🌻
FORWARD: Local music, local parks.
Rochester Public Music is excited to welcome Me Like Bees with opener Scorched Waves on Wednesday, August 26 at Cook Park for our final FORWARD concert of the 2026 summer season. Music starts at 5:30pm, and no registration is required.
They surrounded me like bees; they went out like a fire among thorns; in the name of the Lord I cut them off!” Psalm 118:12 - No, this isn’t a Sam Jackson quote from the latest grindhouse inspired Tarantino film; it’s the impetus behind the Joplin, MO band Me Like Bees. Formed on the heels of the 2000s indie rock scene, the band was started by college dropout Pete Burton and former gas station clerk Luke Sheafer in 2009. The duo shared a mutual affinity for the music of the aughts. Bands like The Strokes, Modest Mouse, The White Stripes and Franz Ferdinand would serve as the catalyst to the danceable, guitar-driven rock that Me Like Bees became known for.
“I remember the way I felt when I first heard Ball and a Biscuit by the White Stripes,” Sheafer says, “That’s the moment I decided that, yeah, this music thing is what I want to do with my life. I’ve been chasing that feeling ever since.”
In 2017, the pair were joined by current bass player, Jake Bennett. Bennett was already familiar to the band, having served as the group’s touring merch manager for several years prior. The most recent addition to the band is drummer, Ben Davis. Davis had been working as an elementary school counselor when he, through an unlikely series of events, heard that Me Like Bees was looking for a drummer. In true Kurt Warner fashion, Davis left his position at the school to pursue his lifelong passion of playing music.
In 2014, they won first prize at the Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands in Hollywood California, beating out 20,000 other bands and securing a coveted spot on the Vans Warped Tour. In 2018, they partnered with Image Comics and artist Jeremy Haun for the release of their graphic novel inspired EP, Songs From The Realm. Hear more from Me Like Bees here: https://www.melikebees.com/
Find more information and see updates about the event here: https://www.facebook.com/share/1EYvezmyJj/
For more information on the FORWARD concert series and Rochester Public Music, check out our website: https://www.rochestermn.gov/activities-parks-culture/music/.
FORWARD Park Concerts are generously supported by the Mayo Clinic and 106.9 KROC FM.
