In 2011, Deep Purple embarked on a tour with Orchestra and took it to Montreux, the land of “Smoke on the Water.” This collection is captured on DVD and CD, sold separately, and both should be owned as the music is awesome but the visual of seeing this band, with orchestra, is tantalizing, ensuring the DVD be viewed again and again.

The set list is littered with Purple classics including “Highway Star,” “Maybe I’m A Leo,” “Strange Kind of Woman,” “Woman From Tokyo,” “When a Blind Man Cries,” “Knocking at Your Back Door,” “Lazy,” “Perfect Stranger,” “Space Truckin’,” “Smoke on the Water,” “Hush” and “Black Night.” Steve Morse delivers big on his instrumental “The Well Dressed Guitar” and keyboardist Don Airey does great on his keyboard solo as well.

“Hard Lovin’ Man” is a great addition to the set as is “No One Came.” While neither of these songs are what you think of when you think DP, both come across very well with “Hard Lovin’ Man” being one of the highpoints of the entire set.

Ian Gillan still has it, as he wails and screeches with the best of them. Ian Paice is very engaged with the orchestration and he does well to keep the beat for the dozens of musicians to follow. Roger Glover has his trademark smile on his face from beginning to end as Deep Purple prove, once again, that they don’t need The Man in Black to be a great band. As this concert shows, both musically, and from the capacity crowd, they are doing just fine without him.