Eagles experience revives Don Henley’s first drum set, Troubadour club — PHOTOS
Don’t call it a pop-up. The Eagles don’t do pop-ups. The band is a 50-year rock institution.
“This is more of an experience, to me, than a pop-up,” says Cindy Frey, widow of Eagles co-founder Glenn Frey and mother of current Eagle Deacon Frey, who curated Third Encore fan attraction at The Venetian. “I said, ‘Let’s make it real, or not do it.’ We’re not just throwing up T-shirts and saying, ‘OK, come in!’ This is as real as the band.”
What is real, for instance, is the drum set inside the replica Troubadour Lounge, where Frey and Don Henley met in 1970 to kindle the Eagles. The drum face reads Felicity, the name of Henley’s band in 1964. His mom bought him the set, the first he ever owned. It was sitting in storage.
“I said, ‘Hey, we can use that,’” Frey said. “Fans will absolutely love it.”
The Third Encore is named as such as it follows what would be two encores by the Eagles during their residency run at Sphere. The attraction takes up the second floor of The Venetian’s Waterfall Atrium, in the same location as similarly designed U2 and Dead & Company fan experiences.
The space is open 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays on show weeks.
A memorabilia display of historic material, items typically offered to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, are on display at no admission charge. Music equipment, concert posters, an “Eagles Come Home” video of rare behind-the-scenes moments are presented.
As a member of the Eagles’ family, Frey was a natural to take the task.
“I don’t think it was ever planned. It was just like, ‘What about this, what if we do this?’ And we were just throwing out ideas. Then we just ran with it.”
Along with the Felicity drums Frey unearthed several old mementos and photos she’d not known existed.
“There were some really special ones, such as walking off stage at the old Wembley Stadium,” Frey said. “It was in the original Wembley Stadium, that’s not there anymore.” The show was the 1975 “Mid-Summer Music” festival, which also included the Beach Boys and a pre-Eagles Joe Walsh.
Merchandise takes up 2,600 square feet in the souvenir store, designers exclusive to the Third Encore space.
Third Encore will also feature the Troubadour VIP Lounge, the recreation of the legendary Troubadour in West Hollywood and the attraction’s hub.
The club matches the aesthetics and architectural details that were present during the band’s infancy. In short, it is a cool hang.
This element of the experience does come with a cost. Those who sign up for a Vibee VIP package will have the “exclusive opportunity,” as the news release states, to view rare Eagles memorabilia and order themed drinks inspired by the band (go to eagles.vibee.com for intel).
“We have a lot of the old T-shirts, the old satin jackets that came from a million years ago,” Frey says. “People look at them like, ‘Wow, this is amazing. I want to wear that today.’ It’s like the band, they don’t make these anymore.”
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
