That sound emanating from Station Square last night wasn't the howl of a wild coyote.

It was the high lonesome call of Jim James, who brought his genre-defying band, My Morning Jacket, to Pittsburgh for the first time in six years.

It was a rather rare sighting for the Kentucky quintet, which has been on hiatus for the better part of a year and a half and recently reassembled for a tour while also working on the follow-up to "Evil Urges." Those are generally the best kinds of tours for longtime fans, who were treated to a nearly 25-song set that ran more than two hours and drew from the whole MMJ catalog.

Right off the bat, with "Rolling Back," the band showed its two-pronged attack with the towering vocals of the bushy-haired Mr. Jones and the guitar-driven firepower of his four mates. No need to worry about those trains going by because MMJ was blowing right over them with staggering volume.

If MMJ is in fact a "jam band," and that's debatable, it's one with a singer far beyond the norm, one that could soar over the electricity of "Mahgeetah" and "One Big Holiday," take on the country croon of "Nashville Skyline"-era Dylan on "Where to Begin," glide like Glen Campbell over the breezy "Golden" or let out a Roger Daltrey scream on "Smokin' From Shootin'."

He flashed his theatrical side on "Lay Low," singing with a red-lined cape over his head as a prelude to one of the night's heavier guitar jams, fading to waves of feedback.

The Radiohead comparisons came into play on "It Beats 4 U," ethereal as the fog with its high falsetto, moody bass line and psychedelic effects. The new song "Circuital" took that moodiness and slashed it midway through with bright electro-acoustic guitars and keyboards like steel drums. The slow, spooky "Dodante" turned into a head-spinning prog-rock jam suited for the trippier fans under what the singer called the "Golden Rainbow."

Through song after song, My Morning Jacket's fearless up and down dynamic and total obliteration of formula, not to mention boundless talent, make it one of the more fascinating bands on tour this summer.

Critics Andrew Druckenbrod and Scott Mervis talk about music on "The Beat," available exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.