The only thing better than Wilco visiting Houston on a concert trek in support of a new album is a visit from Wilco when they have absolutely nothing to sell. A show where alt-rock mastermind and band leader Jeff Tweedy doesn't feel the pressure to incorporate new songs into the mix means that the focus will be its 17 years of past works.

And what a treasure trove to choose from.

Not since the heyday of Harry Houdini and Alfred Hitchcock have there been showmen who keep the audience guessing every time like Wilco does. Ever since the band formed from the dissolution of another alt-country/rock giant Uncle Tupelo to release debut album A.M. in 1994 I have waited for each new release like a child waits for Christmas morning. (There is not enough punctuation available to me on this keyboard to express how important it is that anyone who considers themselves an audiophile find out more about Uncle Tupelo; it is a must-listen prerequisite should you ever want to be a proper music snob... like me.)

Through nine studio albums over 17 years, Wilco has yet to disappoint.

Where A.M. was country-tonk that didn't deviate much from Uncle Tupelo's final bow (and was a direct descendent of the ragged blues of the Rolling Stones' Let It Bleed and Exile on Main St. era), the next album (actually double-album), 1996's Being There, pushed the production envelope with pop and psychedelic flourishes. By contrast, 1999's Summerteeth flipped the script with Tweedy conducting an unexpected multi-layered pop-symphony that pre-crazy Phil Spector could appreciate.

Oh, did I mention that on each end of Summerteeth, Wilco and Billy Bragg (aka the British Bob Dylan) ) released Mermaid Avenue and Mermaid Avenue Vol. II, a project that set previously unheard works by Woody Guthrie to music so they could enjoy a proper public release.

And on and on it goes through Wilco's discography: 2002's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Wilco's best-selling album is often cited as one of the best albums of the last decade), 2004's A Ghost Is Born (Tweedy's personal guitar playground), 2007's Sky Blue Sky (back to alt-country basics) and 2009's Wilco (The Album) (I don't even know how to describe it, but it rocks).

So what will Wilco bring to the Verizon Wireless Theater on Friday night? How will they choose a setlist from this bounty of riches? Truth is, it doesn't even matter. No matter mix they entertain it is bound to be epic.

And who knows? Maybe the will even preview a few songs from their upcoming album Get Well Soon Everybody which won't be released until September.

I can hardly wait.

Wilco, Friday 8 p.m. at Verizon Wireless Theater