IMO there's a very simple explanation for this. No one likes Joe. They hate him personally, and they hate playing with him too. Not only is he not in an actual band, but he doesn't even have a regular group of pals to jam with, as no one can stand his obnoxious showboating and rock star attitude. So he's pretending "Solo Joe" was a conscious decision he made, as opposed to his only option. His most recent gig with an actual band was when he was a SUBSTITUTE guitar player in a Neil Diamond cover band, which was most likely total desperation on their part.
I can't prove it, of course. But those fraternal halls don't "book" acts, they merely rent the hall, and make a little more money via guests drinking at the lodge bar. So Joe agrees to rent the hall for $200. He needs to sell at least ten $20 tickets to break even. Anything beyond that is profit for him.
So when he was slashing prices before his most recent Moose gig, it meant he hadn't even reached that break even point. The day of the show rolls around, and Joe has sold six tickets, and still needs to pay for the hall. Not having the $80 he needs to cover the hall, he attempts to back out of the gig. The Moose guy says fuck you, pay us, or take Solo Joe and shove it up your ass. Bridge burned. Joe goes home, rants about "the state of live music" on social media, and begins groveling for whatever "gigs" he can find, which is how he ended up playing a fruit stand and working on some slipshod cruise ship.
Joe is going to board that cruise ship like he's Clapton, expecting to be treated like a celebrity. But he'll soon discover that he's the help, no different than the waiters, blackjack dealers, or towel boys. He'll be far from home, way out of his comfort zone, and all alone. It won't end well.