One of the staples of summer in Pittsburgh for the past 15 years has been a visit by jam act the Dave Matthews Band, known around the country for its live shows, devoted following and heavy summer touring schedule.

It appears that this summer tradition will come to end next year. The group announced this spring that it would be taking 2011 off, but fans at a packed PNC Park Saturday night were just fine focusing on the present during a grueling 20-plus song set lasting nearly three hours on a beautiful summer night.

And from the looks on the faces of long-time members during the show, it's difficult to imagine that the band will follow through on its threat to stay home next summer. Frontman Dave Matthews danced a jig during his bandmates' solos, drummer Carter Beauford wore a Cheshire cat-like grin throughout the set and violinist Boyd Tinsley was grinning ear-to-ear during his energetic solos, by far the highlight of the night.

Improvisation and extended instrumental breakdowns confirmed DMB's reputation as a jam band as well as showcasing the group's virtuosity as musicians, often forcing the crowd to guess which song the group would pull from its nine studio albums. Whether it was the opening crack of Beauford's snare drum on "Ants Marching" or Matthews' vocals after lengthy instrumental buildups, the crowd's recognition was always met with cheers of delight from the crowd. DMB picked a few tracks from its most recent record, "Big Whisky and the GrooGrux King," but also played fan favorites "Grey Street," "41," "Jimi Thing," and "Two Step," just to name a few.

And while the group's instrumental interludes often took on a more subdued tone that was met with slightly less enthusiasm by the DMB faithful, there were always the crescendos bringing PNC Park back from uncharted territory to the familiar choruses driven by horn players Rashawn Ross and Jeff Coffin, who stepped in at saxophone after the untimely death of LeRoi Moore in 2008.

Although fans commonly refer to the group simply as Dave, the frontman was much less notable than his fantastic rhythm section, which included long-time contributor Tim Reynolds on electric guitar, and the other soloists. Oftentimes only uttering an unintelligible growl in between songs, Matthews gave the understatement of the night late in the show when he said, "It turned into a lovely night." Some might have wished to have heard a song left off of the set list, but the night's success was never in question for the thousands of devoted fans.

Country act Zac Brown Band got things off to an energetic start as the opener, mixing slower country ballads with a few energetic blues-infused guitar romps, effectively setting the stage for the jamming that was to come.

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.