Karaoke Bar Fight

On November 4,2008 Officer Miller of the River Falls, WI Police Department arrived around 2:00am to find  two young men in their mid twenties lying on the ground, severely beaten. A crowd had formed around them and they pointed off in the distance as Ofc. Miller approached. A man was running from the scene, he gave chase.

Karaoke Girl Fight

On a September eve in 2009 Leidy Alacantara found herself on the bottom of a pile at Bobby Valentine’s in Stamford, Connecticut.  There were six angry women on top of her as other bar patrons worked feverishly to peel them off of her.

Each of these scenarios were instigated by karaoke indignities, real or imagined- that each victim’s aggressor had suffered.

Why does karaoke seem to inspire so much ill-guided passion in its participants and observers? It would be easy to simply say that karaoke bars are a powderkeg for violence, as noted karaoke author Brian Rafferty writes: “ Fill a room with 30 or so exhibitionists, ply them with alcohol and wireless microphones, and its only a matter of time before all the forced interaction results in conflict.”

Indeed, one common scenario is the bar patron who is not aware that the bar is hosting karaoke night. Some of these people enjoy it anyway, while others often feel trapped and uncomfortable at the prospect. There are still others who mistakenly view karaoke as a “singers-only” activity; that is if you can’t sing, don’t. Granted, none of these perspectives gives anyone the right to attack karaoke singers, but they do explain the thought process of many an offender.  

 It turns out that karaoke is not a sport like skiing or ice skating, where novices are welcome but almost always get better with practice. Karaoke is an art of self-expression, more akin to painting. A painter may never become a Matisse or Renoir, no matter how much he paints, but the it’s the painting itself that provides the inner growth and outward revelation that is art.

In Michael Young’s case, his friend David had committed the sin of singing a duet with another woman. Debra Rowley, his ex-wife, with whom David apparently still had a relationship with (they still lived together) became jealous, no, enraged. So much so that she rammed that wooden deck with her Nissan C-39. This was a classic case of a woman scorned via karaoke. Offending Song: “Unknown”

In Officer Miller’s case, he had just happened upon a bar fight instigated by none other than Kyle Drinkwine, whom he did catch a few minutes later. The two on the ground; James Mischler and Cyrus Kozub. Offending Song Cover: “Holy Diver” by Dio.

In Leidy Alacantara’s case, while there is some dispute as to who started this fracas, it is clear that the hostilities began when the alleged victim began to sing badly, a fact that even she doesn’t deny in an interview with local media. The girl fight ensued after words were exchanged during Leidy’s performance. Offending Song Cover: “A Dios Le Pido” by Juanes.

 

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