Maureen Gordon pours a pint in her Newtown bar and live music venue, The Kings Arms. Photo/Sarah Ivey
Tributes are flowing for Maureen Gordon, the owner of rowdy Auckland music venue The Kings Arms, after her death over the weekend.
Gordon's passing comes just months before the Kings Arms, which Gordon has owned and operated for more than 30 years, is set to close.
"Our thoughts are with the Gordon family at this sad time," said a statement from The Kings Arms Tavern.
"Rest in peace Maureen. Your star may have gone out, but you will always burn bright in our hearts."
Tributes flowed from wellwishers on Facebook, with one calling Gordon "an absolute legend".
"Great work over the years bringing REAL music to the people ... RIP," wrote one.
"The end of an amazing era," wrote another. "Thank you for your services to music," said a third.
Gordon has run The Kings Arms since 1986, building up the venue's reputation for showcasing up-and-coming acts and bands at the heavier end of the spectrum.
Among the many bands that have played there are The White Stripes, Shellac, DragonForce, Band of Horses, Odesza, Wavves, Black Lips, Peaches, Stone Sour and too many local acts to name.
The venue was reportedly sold to developers for $7.4 million last year and is scheduled to close as a music venue early next year.
Shows booked until the end of the year include Anika Moa, The Dillenger Escape Plan, Supersuckers, Solomon Harper and !!!.
In a 2014 interview with the Herald, Gordon admitted she didn't always enjoy some of the bands who played there and left bookings up to her daughter Lisa.
"I always hear the tune-ups in the afternoon and that's enough, thank you. At 5pm I can't get in my car quick enough sometimes."
Read more: Twelve Questions: Maureen Gordon
Gordon said she and her husband Peter ran three pubs until his death in 1994, when she sold them all except for the Kings Arms.
"I said to all the men, 'I can't be Peter, I can only do the best I can. If you don't like something, come and tell me.' Some of them gave me a very hard time."
She also said she had no plans to retire.
"I don't recognise that word. I do recognise that you can't go on forever and there are a lot of things that have changed. I have to be up with the changes. But while I'm well and enjoy it, I'll be here."
Gordon is survived by her five children and 14 grandchildren.
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