DJ Joe H is no longer the karaoke DJ at Locust Bar on Sundays.

I figured this was just one of those things. But it's not. Joe says he was, as he summed it up, punched in the face without provocation and fired.

Two Sundays back a drunk patron demanded to know why her friends didn't get more turns and why he was letting the "bad singers" sing. Joe explained that this is karaoke, not American Idol, and it doesn't work like that.

Joe says she made nasty remarks and they went back and forth a little. She threatened to punch him. He said "that's on you" and started to turn away. And she punched him full in the face.

She eventually admitted to punching him but claimed he "poked her in the chest real hard" first. So the owner talked to her for 20 minutes, talked to Joe for two minutes, and fired Joe the next day.

Apparently there may be a witness to some of this who tells the story differently. But Joe has been there seven and a half years and at other Philly bars for even longer, and he's never had an altercation with a customer. Why the hell would he start by hitting a woman? It's ridiculous.

Fear of lawsuits makes people do some pretty stupid stuff, eh.

DJ Lars has been hired at Locust Bar. Lars is a good guy and I'm sure he doesn't even know the story and has nothing to do with it. No one should give Lars any grief about this, it's not his doing.

But as for Locust Bar's management... the best DJ in town (with the best songbook in town) is gone from my favorite watering hole because of one loudmouthed drunk with no fucking shame whatsoever, and I'm very pissed off.

This Sunday no one (myself included) seemed to have any idea what had gone down, I didn't learn the story until I contacted Joe myself. It'll be interesting to see what happens when people realize Joe didn't leave voluntarily.

Tags: karaoke, philly