Denver band the Photo Atlas headlines an all-ages show Wednesday at the Fox.

Alan Andrews dreams of playing music in large arenas. For now, he gets the perk of working at Denver's Pepsi Center.

Andrews is the solid frontman for indie-rock act The Photo Atlas. The local group's been gaining national attention, but the band members spend their off hours working at the Pepsi Center and catching big-name acts.

"We all work in the suites department at the center," Andrews said. "We take orders, so it's a pretty easy job.

"We also get to see the larger acts -- and that's spending money in our pockets. We just saw AC/DC and Coldplay. Seeing those shows helps us focus our own band goals."

The Photo Atlas is definitely working its way up to playing larger venues.

The Denver band has creatively combined elements of punk, indie rock and dance music to create its signature sound.

The Photo Atlas is now under Dave Matthews' Red Light Management group, and the band's been featured everywhere from Spin magazine to sports-related video games.

"We've been playing as a band for five years now," Andrews said. "We've got the same foundation, but we've matured in our playing. We were more aggressive at first. Now, we've ventured off and we're focusing on the punk, dance and pop aspects."

The Photo Atlas' updated sound has earned the band opening slots on the Bravery's and Local H's tours. The Denver group's also played shows with Alkaline Trio and Unwritten Law.

Plus, the Photo Atlas' rocking tunes have been used in the video games "Burnout Paradise," "Burnout Dominator" and "Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam."

The local band's also released a new EP to satisfy its fans. The project's been dubbed To Silently Provoke the Ghost and it features five new tunes.

"We're already touring behind the EP," Andrews said. "We've been touring constantly -- we haven't even had two weeks off at a time. We can't keep touring on our first record forever, so we put out this five-song EP."

The Photo Atlas is biding its time and hoping to pick up a major-label record deal. Once that's in play, Andrews says the band will release a brand new CD.

"We're talking to a bunch of different labels," Andrews said. "We want to have some label support before we put out a new full-length record."

For now, the Photo Atlas is getting ready for Wednesday night's Fox Theatre show.

"We're going to be playing some of our new music and we're going to bring in a dozen tambourines," Andrews said. "We're going to throw them around and get some audience participation going.

"We're really getting ready for 2009. We're going to be performing a lot and just getting ourselves out there. You can't just sit around -- you have to make stuff happen."