Sometimes a band is just better live.

That was the case for Modest Mouse, an indie rock outfit best known for their 2004 hit “Float On,” which topped the Billboard Alternative Airplay charts and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song. But their catalog is considerably deeper — and though the only original member still touring with the band is front man Isaac Brock, Modest Mouse has been rocking since 1993.

At Friday night’s show at Stage AE, the band gave a nearly two-hour-long performance that proved Brock’s longevity. This tour has typically seen them supporting college rock legends The Pixies — unlucky for Pittsburgh that they weren’t on this stop — but Modest Mouse stepped into headlining with ease.

Singer-songwriter Cat Power opened the evening with a meandering set that showed off her versatility and sultry singing voice. From blues to folk to rock, Cat Power can do it all. After singing her cover of Phil Phillips’ “Sea of Love,” which was featured on the soundtrack of the 2007 film “Juno,” she wrapped up her set with the highlight, a cover of “Mr. Tambourine Man” that was truly entrancing. A beacon of positive energy, she closed by telling the audience to “keep your chin up” and “be good to each other.”

At 8:30 p.m. on the dot — who doesn’t love a prompt rock group? — Modest Mouse walked out onto a mostly dark stage and started off their set with scratchy guitar and bumping bass. Their first song, “Heart Cooks Brain,” served to set the tone for the rest of the evening.

Modest Mouse also didn’t skimp on the visuals. With smoke machines and a practical light show’s worth of lighting effects, every song felt like its own mini-performance. During the opening song, the lights flashed in rainbow colors, drifts of smoke catching the hues as the band geared up for the long haul.

Brock is a striking frontman. At 48, he looked kind of like a dad in his white button-down and jacket, but his singing voice is as distinctive as ever. He went from shouty intros to wailing choruses to gentle, crooning bridges. Even through the volume that the band was putting out — this concert was louder than a lot of punk shows — his vocals asserted themselves boldly.

The band’s third song, “Spitting Venom,” was a good example of this. It started with just guitar and Brock’s voice, and the way he sang, the song’s title was appropriate. Then they crashed in for a long rock bridge, even bringing in a trumpet.

Another good example was “The Stars Are Projectors,” which began with an echoey intro and drummed its way to a melodic first verse, all under the flickery white-and-purple spotlights that seemed to imitate celestial bodies.

Many of Modest Mouse’s songs feel like the ebb and flow of a tide. They’ll have subtle beginnings, with a guitar or a banjo, then the band will roar in full force for the verses. Maybe then there will be a slowed-down musical bridge with a sped-up verse to follow. They’re sprawling musical vignettes that are best experienced live, when the music can envelop the listener completely — and the musicians can have fun with it.

The aforementioned banjo came out just before “King Rat,” a song that started out with a nearly country first verse and turned into a whirlwind of lights, drums and guitar. That was followed up by “Satin in a Coffin,” an evening highlight that left the crowd chanting “are you dead or are you sleeping?” along with Brock.

And no, “Float On” wasn’t saved for the encore. It wasn’t even the last song on the regular set list. It came as a surprise fourth-to-last, in fact. Brock has maintained his off-kilter lyrical delivery, but one of the best things about Modest Mouse’s performance Friday night was that it wasn’t studio-imitation perfect. The 2000s classic sounded a little rough, a little different, but that just made it feel like the audience got to hear it with new ears.

Brock wasn’t particularly talkative, pausing a couple of times to ask the crowd “How’s everybody doing?” and to thank Cat Power for opening. After the regular set’s final song — “Fire It Up” — he said “Thank you for your time” before leaving the stage.

An encore came after an excessively long break for the band (note for musicians: anything over two to three minutes is really pushing it). They kicked it off with “Cowboy Dan,” another lengthy tune which let the band wander through a number of musical movements. Next up was a cover of The Cure’s “A Forest,” followed by “Ocean Breathes Salty,” the second single from their 2004 album “Good News For People Who Love Bad News.” It reached No. 6 on the Billboard Alternative Airplay charts.

The night’s second-to-last song was “Black Cadillacs,” and the band capped off the five-song encore with the spacey “Night on the Sun,” As the lights shone like the grand finale of a fireworks display, Brock yelped out the last few refrains of “that’s alright, that’s alright.”

Modest Mouse continues to be a unique act with admirable stage presence. They put on a polished show that sounded unfiltered; they were a little grungy, somewhat disaffected and still a lot of fun. And on Friday night they impressed at least one person who wasn’t much of a fan before.

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