The last time Adam Ritchie played a note in the Carrier Dome was for the Sour Sitrus Society and from the top of his bass cabinet — a protected island in the sea of fans rushing the basketball court.

Ritchie and Jesse James, alumni of Syracuse University’s Class of 2003, will return to the very same venue Saturday at 9:05 p.m., this time as members of rock band The Lights Out.

Seven years after graduation, James and Ritchie will play at the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, sponsored by Alpha Phi Omega, a co-educational national service fraternity.

‘I’ve played at Schine (Student Center), I’ve played at the Landmark (Theatre), but I never got to play at the Dome,’ James said. ‘This is the last piece of the puzzle for me.’

The Boston-based group formed in 2005 and has since performed gigs all over, opening for the New England Patriots’ 2009 season at Gillette Stadium and for bands like Eve 6 and Fountains of Wayne. The band will play a 45-minute set that will feature some unusual song topics that the band members said could be the soundtrack to a bank heist.

‘If you’re robbing a bank, running out of the door with the loot, and you jump in your getaway car, this is what you would want playing on the stereo as you were speeding away,’ Ritchie said. ‘We play songs about bounty hunters, guys getting killed by volcanoes and love. I don’t know how many bands cover all three of those topics.’

Chris McMurry, a Class of 2003 alumnus and close friend of Ritchie’s while at SU, knew Ritchie as the long-haired guitar player who loved a hearty late-night feast at the recently closed Doc’s Little Gem Diner and a drink or two at Clark’s Ale House.

‘One day we were out on our front porch my senior year when he broke out his guitar and I said, ‘Man, this guy’s talented,” McMurry said

Ritchie and James didn’t major in music while at SU, but they use the same skills from their day jobs to strengthen the band’s exposure and reputation. Calling on his education in public relations, Ritchie is the band’s publicist and plays lead guitar.

James, the band’s drummer, found his industrial design major crucial in designing the group’s Web site, posters and album art. The band also consists of lead singer Rishava Green and bassist Matt King.

James played for two other bands during his time at SU, one of which he thinks may have been a partial cause for one of the most talked about riots in campus history following 1999’s Livingstock.

‘I remember driving by and there was smoke and fire everywhere,’ James said. ‘There was a huge riot that day, and I guess we kind of started it. They never had Livingstock again.’

The two said they are excited to play Saturday night and visit their old stomping grounds. Whether or not they play on a base cabinet again, they said that Saturday night’s show will pay homage to the school.

‘We like jumping off of things, we like running up to people,’ Ritchie said. ‘We will put on a show worthy of the Carrier Dome. We have to rise to that occasion and we’re looking forward to it.’

akgould@syr.edu

Published on April 7, 2010 at 12:00 pm