{"id":458520,"date":"2026-06-03T08:30:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T08:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/458520\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T08:30:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T08:30:10","slug":"auckland-country-bar-jolene-reopens-with-new-tavern-licence-live-music-until-3am","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/458520\/","title":{"rendered":"Auckland country bar Jolene reopens with new tavern licence, live music until 3am"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"rGEveXCr\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cWe closed the doors until we got our tavern licence, until we could be the proper country bar we always wanted to be.<\/p>\n<p class=\"rGEveXCr\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cWe opened Jolene under a restaurant licence, and unfortunately we weren\u2019t allowed live music or dancing, which was tough for a country music bar.<\/p>\n<p class=\"rGEveXCr\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cWe want neon lights, super fun, line dancing, live music, all of that good stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img  alt=\"Jesse James (left) and his new on licence (right). Photo \/ Jesse James\" class=\"article-media__image responsively-lazy\" data-test-ui=\"article-media__image\"\/>Jesse James (left) and his new on licence (right). Photo \/ Jesse James<\/p>\n<p class=\"rGEveXCr\" style=\"display:none\">An Auckland Council licence manager previously told the Herald the $250 fine had no impact on the bar\u2019s ability to trade so its closure was a voluntary act. They added an application to amend Jolene\u2019s liquor licence to become a tavern was recently lodged.<\/p>\n<p class=\"rGEveXCr\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cIt wasn\u2019t meant to be a huge marketing stunt. We just shut the doors until further notice,\u201d James said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"rGEveXCr\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cWe rode with it, and it got a lot of traction.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"rGEveXCr\" style=\"display:none\">Jolene  can stay open until 3am with the new licence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"rGEveXCr\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cWe\u2019ve got an extra hour, and our dream was always to be this kind of five-star country dive bar that celebrated music and just a fun environment for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"rGEveXCr\" style=\"display:none\">A change in licence isn\u2019t all that\u2019s new, it appears the bar\u2019s owners might be looking to expand south.<\/p>\n<p class=\"rGEveXCr\" style=\"display:none\">On May 11, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/lifestyle\/ponsonby-rd-venue-jolene-bar-closes-until-further-notice-as-new-liquor-licence-reviewed-directors-register-near-identical-firm-in-chch\/WJNQVWAG5FDKJAPK57M5Q3OD7I\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/lifestyle\/ponsonby-rd-venue-jolene-bar-closes-until-further-notice-as-new-liquor-licence-reviewed-directors-register-near-identical-firm-in-chch\/WJNQVWAG5FDKJAPK57M5Q3OD7I\/\">James and his co-owner George Williams<\/a> registered Jolene Bar Christchurch Limited.<\/p>\n<p class=\"rGEveXCr\" style=\"display:none\">James declined to offer any more information.<\/p>\n<p class=\"rGEveXCr\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cI don\u2019t know what you\u2019re talking about, bro. No comment. That\u2019s an exclusive for another day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"rGEveXCr\" style=\"display:none\">The reopening comes weeks after James made headlines for appearing to mock a recently opened rival venue on social media, describing the North Shore Goldie\u2019s Bar &amp; Yard as a \u201cTemu\u201d version of their own Western-inspired establishment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"rGEveXCr\" style=\"display:none\">James addressed the controversy, telling the Herald people have called him a \u201ccowboy\u201d for teasing the bar but it was \u201cin good faith\u201d and just friendly banter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWe closed the doors until we got our tavern licence, until we could be the proper country bar&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":458521,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[232869,74,51,17181,2841,232870,5504,232868,19339,4960,157,117,111,139,69,20593,1854,1326,12417,213,78030,35636,698,4518,102],"class_list":["post-458520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-3am","tag-after","tag-auckland","tag-bar","tag-country","tag-countrythemed","tag-following","tag-jolene","tag-licence","tag-live","tag-music","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-reopened","tag-reopens","tag-shop","tag-shutting","tag-sports","tag-tavern","tag-turbulent","tag-until","tag-weeks","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458520"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458520\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/458521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}