Atomic Milkshake all about good times

Atomic Milkshake. It's catchy. It's fun. And despite the fact that he's in the band, Stephen Miller admits that he has no idea what it means, either.

But that's OK, because, if nothing else, the name reflects the sort of anything-goes, party-heavy vibe Atomic Milkshake tries to create during its weekly gigs at Kahunaville at Treasure Island.

Atomic Milkshake has been playing at Kahunaville for about two months now, and vocalist Miller says it was bandmate/bassist Tony "Wickett" Pickett who came up with the name during a brainstorming session.

"Wickett is, like, the extrovert of the group," Miller says. "At first I was like, what?"

But he admits the name works for a band that's all about fun times, good music and lots of audience interaction. (Fans can follow the band at www.facebook.com/atomicmilkshake.)

The band's mission is to serve a wide swath of music fans. "We go from rock 'n' roll to R&B to hip-hop to country," Miller says. "We do jazz, and we do Ray Charles."

What makes Atomic Milkshake different from a lot of area bands is that members incorporate into their sets "a lot of production show elements," Miller says, including dancing, costumes and special arrangements.

"The main part of our focus is, we want to be like no other band at all. (Audiences) know this is a party band, and a lot of bands don't do that production. They don't go into the audience with (Lady) Gaga outfits and don't have a Ray Charles bit where we come out with glasses.

"So we try to give people that energy. We know folks are here to have a party."
It doesn't hurt that Atomic Milkshake's members always have a good time, too.

"We have musicians who are very open-minded and want to grow and want to put their ideas out there," Miller says. "It's pretty much no egos here. No one man says, 'This is what we do.' We all collaborate, and that makes it work and that makes it happen. So there's that energy, and it's pretty cool."

Despite Atomic Milkshake's still-brief tenure at Kahunaville, the band is discovering that there are "a lot of people (who) come every week. Among them are locals who consider an evening with Atomic Milkshake to be a great way to end the workweek.

"There's a section of people that know, 'Oh, you guys added a new song,' " Miller says. "We're like, 'Yeah!' We love it."

Atomic Milkshake performs at 10:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays at Kahunaville at Treasure Island, 3300 Las Vegas Blvd. South.

-- By JOHN PRZYBYS