CACTUS Joined By BILLY SHEEHAN, DOUG ALDRICH, DOUG ‘DUG’ PINNICK And BUMBLEFOOT At ‘Temple Of The Blues II’ Album-Release Concert
Written by megarock on April 10, 2026
Legendary rock band CACTUS, whose current lineup includes original drummer Carmine Appice (also of VANILLA FUDGE and BECK, BOGERT & APPICE fame),singer Ed Terry, guitarist Artie Dillon and bassist James Caputo, was joined by a number of guest musicians, including Billy Sheehan (MR. BIG, THE WINERY DOGS),Eric Gales, Doug Aldrich (WHITESNAKE, DIO),Tony Franklin (THE FIRM, BLUE MURDER, Lou Gramm),Pat Travers, Doug “Dug” Pinnick (KING’S X) and Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal (GUNS N’ ROSES, ASIA, SONS OF APOLLO) for the “Temple Of The Blues II” album-release concert on April 3 at the Arcada Theatre in St. Charles, Illinois. Fan-filmed video of the show can be seen in the YouTube playlist below, courtesy of the Scott Sigman channel on YouTube. (Note: After each song, the YouTube player automatically jumps to the next song in the playlist.)
Released on April 3 via Cleopatra Records, “Temple Of The Blues II” is the follow-up to CACTUS‘s 2024 release “Temple Of The Blues” and features a host of guest musicians on the eleven cuts, including a bonus track on the CD.
Oft described as America’s LED ZEPPELIN, the original CACTUS grew out of Appice‘s past experiences with VANILLA FUDGE and BECK, BOGERT & APPICE, debuting in 1970 with a self-titled album and an immediate impact on the live circuit. And “Temple Of Blues II” takes us back to their birth — that summer, CACTUS were among the main attractions at the Isle Of Wight festival in England, and the new album’s “Purple Haze” reunites them with both another of that bill’s audience favorites, Melanie, and its overall headliner, Jimi Hendrix.