At the corner of Washington and Hyde, amps are set before a curtain of string lights that might make you think we’re about to hear what bougie millennials think is indie. But The Falcon is a staple of Orlando’s scene, punk creeping out towards Lake Eola.

The Falcon is a long narrow room that stretches out from its bar. The venue has more seating than any I’ve been to in Central Florida, but it’s narrow shape suggests that it would still challenge anyone with a mobility aid. There’s no lighting effects to worry about and there’s one gender neutral restroom.

I think of the different ways DIY venues bring bodies closer together. The Falcon doesn’t have any music between sets that demand we section off in groups to shout into an individual ear. When the sound check starts, people gravitate into a homogenous group towards the mic. Mere begins.

Two minutes in to the first song of their first show people are nodding and shaking their bodies, pulsing to the beat. I don’t know who the conventional four piece is or what they’re singing about (yet), but their sound is compelling.

Next is Runners High sharing a drummer and bass player with Glazed, rock bands building up to a powerful final anthem that properly warms up the crowd for the force that is Meet Me @ The Altar.

In a lineup almost exclusively composed of white men, the five piece pulls a different crowd forward for their set. It’s my first time seeing them off a stage, but they’ve brought their own. Atop light boxes the band plays off their EP Bigger Than Me, with the addition of “Sk8r Boi”.

Hungover ended the night with rhythm that inspires movement and vocals that make me want to sing (I don’t know the words). The Orlando based group has been around for years now, though this was my first time encountering them in the city.

I haven’t been to The Falcon in months, not since one of my first shows actually. (My fifth DIY show, according to my journal). I went alone to hear bands I didn’t know then. Now my last show in Florida this year, I left after long goodbyes to what feel like old friends.