Electrician Contractor in Alpharetta, GA

On July 25, 2023, the Ameris Bank Amphitheatre in Alpharetta, Ga., witnessed a night to remember as the Dave Matthews Band delivered a memorable performance enriched by the musical brilliance of special guest Chuck Leavell. The former Allman Brothers keyboardist and longtime Rolling Stones sideman graced the stage in his home state for three songs from his prior outfits.

While this marked Leavell’s first time sitting in with Dave Matthews Band, he is no stranger to the band’s frontman, Dave Matthews – the two have previously collaborated during Matthews’ guest appearances with The Rolling Stones. Furthermore, Leavell and Dave Matthews Band’s bassist Stefan Lessard also worked with Gov’t Mule, adding camaraderie to the evening. The show, as a whole, featured an impressive repertoire that seamlessly blended songs from Leavell’s esteemed bands, the Allman Brothers and the Rolling Stones, with Dave Mattews Band numbers.

Kicking off the night was a special treat for fans, as the song “Spaceman” was played as a set opener for the first time since 2014 and as a show opener since 2010. The band showcased their musical versatility as they moved through a diverse setlist, including favorites like “One Sweet World,” “Fool in the Rain,” and “You Might Die Trying.”

Leavell’s masterful touch on the keyboard first came into the frame during “Melissa,” a song the band had recently covered with fellow Allman Brothers alumni Warren Haynes. Following the favorite, the ensemble dished out “Grace Is Gone.” Another evening highlight from the collaboration was the debut performance of “Honky Tonk Women.” After Leavell left the stage, they continued with favorites like “Satellite,” “So Damn Lucky,” “Madman’s Eyes” and more.

As the night drew to a close, Dave Matthews Band treated the audience to a heartfelt solo performance by Matthews, playing the hauntingly beautiful “Baby Blue,” a song that had not been played live since 2012. The show’s grand finale was an exhilarating rendition of “Two Step,” featuring an explosive intro of “Time Bomb.”

Dave Matthews Band’s tour will continue with a performance at the Amphitheater at The Wharf in Orange Beach, Ala. See a collection of photos and a video shared by Dave Mattews Band saxophonist Jeff Coffin below.

Dave Matthews BandAmeris Bank Amphitheatre – Alpharetta, Ga.July 25, 2023

Set: Spaceman, #27, One Sweet World, Walk Around the Moon, Fool in the Rain, American Baby Intro, So Right, Monsters, You Might Die Trying, Melissa*, Grace Is Gone*, Honky Tonk Women*, Looking for a Vein, Satellite, So Damn Lucky, Madman’s Eyes, Lie in Our Graves, Water Into Wine, You & Me, Pantala Naga Pampa, Rapunzel

Enc.: Baby Blue, Two Step (Time Bomb intro)

*/ with Chuck Leavell

The budget up for consideration by the Alpharetta City Council proposes to leave the millage rate at its current 5.750 level through the 2023 tax year/2024 fiscal year. The City has maintained that rate since 2009 while providing additional tax relief to citizens through a portfolio of homestead exemptions (discussed below) that rank among the highest in the State.

The City’s millage rate is composed of two separate levies that total 5.75 mills: the maintenance & operations (M&O) levy provides funding for essential city services and capital investment and is proposed at a rate of 4.870 mills; the bond levy provides funding for the City’s voter-approved general obligation debt and is proposed at a rate of 0.880 mills.

Due to the forecasted impact of property tax reassessments, the City is advertising a property tax increase of 7.74% for the M&O millage levy (the larger of the two levies).

When the total digest of taxable property is prepared, Georgia law requires the computation of a rollback millage rate that will produce the same total revenue on the current year’s digest that last year’s millage rate would have produced had no reassessments occurred. The proposed M&O millage rate exceeds the rollback millage rate, therefore, before the City Council can set a final millage rate, Georgia law requires the advertisements discussed above as well as three public hearings to be held to allow the public an opportunity to express their opinions on the increase.

The public hearings will be held on the following dates and times in the Council Chambers at Alpharetta City Hall located at 2 Park Plaza:

The City is investing revenue growth to cover, among other things, law enforcement initiatives, cyber security technological improvements, inflationary demands on salary and contractual obligations, and increases in capital infrastructure maintenance.

Citizens are also encouraged to view the adopted budget on the City of Alpharetta website, www.alpharetta.ga.us and through the financial transparency portal https://cleargov.com/georgia/fulton/city/alpharetta.

Review The Proposed 2024 Budget

TAXPAYER SAVINGS (Homestead Exemptions)

The FY 2024 millage rate, coupled with the city’s substantial Homestead Exemptions, goes great lengths in keeping Alpharetta an affordable place to live and strategically position us relative to neighboring areas.

The City’s multiple homestead exemptions are estimated to save our homeowners over $6.7 million annually and include:

TAXPAYER SAVINGS (HTRG)

On March 13, 2023, House Bill 18 was signed into law and is reflected in the State of Georgia’s Amended Fiscal Year 2023 budget. HB 18 was a proposal by Governor Brian Kemp to refund $950 million in property taxes back to homesteaded property owners in 2023. Specifically, HB 13 authorizes the HTRG Program (Homeowners Tax Relief Grant) which provides one-time tax relief to homesteaded property owners by reducing the assessed value of their property by up to $18,000. The estimated tax savings to our homesteaded property owners through the HTRG Program total $1.1 million.

The City will add the HTRG exemption to its current homestead exemption offerings, which are among the highest in the State, resulting in additional savings estimated at $1.1 million to our homeowners.

On Sunday night, Phish concluded their three-night stand at Ameris Bank Amphitheatre in Alpharetta, Georgia with a show that featured plenty of laughs, plenty of jams, and plenty of nods to the Peach State. In contrast to the previous two evenings, each of which spotlighted a single excursion that exceeded 25 minutes, Sunday had many exceptional improvisations that ran slightly less long.

And, in keeping with what has been a theme of the tour, Phish kept fans guessing until the very end, as the encore featured a Georgia-focused Reba McEntire-popularized cover sung by Jon Fishman, and the state’s first “You Enjoy Myself” since 2003.

The evening kicked off with a powerful trio of tunes, as an always-welcome “Buried Alive” opener was followed by a typically powerful “Wilson” and a punchy “NICU.”

Those turned out to be an appetizer for the set’s main course: a knockout version of “Bathtub Gin.” After a relaxed few minutes of improv that saw lovely interplay between guitarist Trey Anastasio, keyboardist Page McConnell and bassist Mike Gordon, the band seemed to realize it had gotten dark enough for Chris Kuroda’s lights to take center stage, and they took a turn for the psychedelic. Trey and Page both shined in the trippy section that followed, before the quartet returned to the song’s closing refrain.

A standard-great “Gumbo” followed. A missed line in the call-and-response section of “Limb by Limb” gave the band a laugh, which made it all the more impressive that they managed to get back on track before the section ended. The song’s jam didn’t miss a note, as they reached an unusually brilliant and inspiring peak.

Up next was the Phish debut of “The Well,” which Trey and Fishman had first played with Dezron Douglas in June. After the song’s light, upbeat first half, it descends into a deep, dark segment reminiscent of the “Saw It Again” outro.

The band then ascended from the dark well to the airy heights of “Mountains In The Mist,” and then even kept going until they were out of the atmosphere — “Halfway to the Moon,” to be exact.

Keeping the theme going, “Split Open And Melt” took them plunging below the water line. The song featured a controlled chaos, similar to many recent renditions, in which the band maintained just the faintest connection to the song’s rhythmic and harmonic foundations, while nonetheless keeping a firm grasp on the jam, playing with pure intention.

Read on after The Skinny for the rest of the recap and more.

Set two started off with a straightforward, rocking “Mike’s Song.” The ensuing “Carini” included a double peak: the first in a major key, the second, equally explosive, in a minor key. An upbeat “Weekapaug Groove” closed the suite.

The set’s centerpiece was an outstanding version of “Sand,” during which Trey repeated a simple riff as his bandmates built to an ecstatic climax underneath him — an absolutely stunning moment that only Phish could ever create. The quartet wound the jam into a funk groove that slipped back into the song’s ending. Next up was a rock solid “Reba,” before “More” closed the set.

Finally, the band extended the tour’s streak of excellent encores to five for five. Trey sat behind the drum kit as Fishman took the guitar and lead vocals on a playful romp through Reba McEntire’s “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia.” The tune included a Fishman guitar solo that made the “___ Shreds” YouTube videos sound like Mozart.

The song finally concluded and a haphazard take on “Hold Your Head Up” followed. Fish apologized to the audience for his truly wretched guitar playing, saying, “You can tell your grandkids that you actually paid money to see that.” Trey jokingly called the drummer “Moses Brown” and “Moses Dewitt” before calling him “the only man who can part the Red Sea with his guitar playing.”

But that wasn’t all. Trey dedicated the final song of the run to a fan whose shirt noted that it had been 20 years since “You Enjoy Myself” was last played in Georgia. (Fact check: true.) The song itself included a road bump or two in the composed section, but a very strong jam, with a screaming guitar solo and an especially growl-heavy vocal jam. Trey and Page gave Fishman one final bow to cap off the weekend.

Phish Summer Tour 2023 continues on Tuesday, July 18 with the first of two shows in Wilmington, North Carolina. Livestreams for the Live Oak Bank Pavilion at Riverfront Park shows and the rest of the band’s 2023 Summer Tour are available via LivePhish.com.

Phish From The Road Photos

Posters

On the evening of April 23, the City of Alpharetta will begin extensive rehabilitation and resurfacing of Windward Parkway between Georgia 400 and Alderman Drive / Windward Plaza. Lane closures will occur throughout the two-week project, but at least one lane in each direction will remain open at all times, and access to side streets will be maintained.

NORTH POINT PARKWAY TO ALDERMAN DRIVE:

Due to the extent of work that must be performed to address underlying deterioration of the road between North Point Parkway and Alderman Drive, work in that area will be performed 24 hours per day so that the total number of days and impacts to motorists can be reduced.

This area of Windward Parkway has seen significant degradation of the underlying roadbed, so the asphalt layer will be removed and soil cement applied to rebuild and reinforce the foundation. Soil-cement is a mixture of Portland cement, natural soil, and water used to form a hard, semi-rigid paving surface. It is most often used in highways or as a sub-base for asphalt or other forms of paving to modify the soil subgrade strength and provide a working platform in unsuitable conditions.

In short, the section of Windward Parkway between North Point Parkway and Alderman Drive is not simply being resurfaced. It is being rebuilt to provide better strength and durability and address the underlying issues that have caused excessive formation of potholes.

GA400 TO NORTH POINT PARKWAY:

Fortunately, those underlying conditions are not present in the area between GA400 and North Point Parkway, so road work in this area is limited to resurfacing/repaving and will be performed at night. Work will begin after 7:30 PM and the road will be reopened by 5:00 AM each day.

WHAT TO EXPECT:

Motorists should expect travel delays on Windward Parkway beginning April 23 and lasting for approximately two weeks. The best way to minimize travel delays and frustration will be by avoiding travel during peak commute periods, as alternate routes of travel in the affected area are limited.

Businesses in the area are encouraged to promote telework options during the construction period, and large employers are asked to consider slightly adjusting arrival and dismissal times during the workday. Traffic congestion and delays can be greatly reduced by neighboring businesses coordinating so that one adjusts their times 15 minutes earlier while a neighboring business adjusts theirs 15 minutes later.

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We know that some folks just cannot celebrate Independence Day without the boom, flash, and sizzle of fireworks. While we encourage anyone wanting to enjoy fireworks to take advantage of the July 4th events at Wills Park, we also know that some of you will choose to use your own consumer fireworks, instead. For those who do (and their neighbors), we want to share a few reminders ahead of Independence Day:

* Georgia Law stipulates that the use of consumer fireworks is legal until 11:59 PM statewide around certain holidays: on January 1, the last Saturday and Sunday in May (before Memorial Day), July 3 and 4, the first Monday in September (Labor Day), and December 31. Additionally, State Law allows the use of consumer fireworks on January 1 from 12:00 AM (midnight) to 1:00 AM.

* Outside of those specific days, the use of consumer fireworks is permitted under Georgia Law beginning at 10:00 AM and ending at 11:59 PM on any day unless such use violates the local jurisdiction’s general noise ordinance. That law further stipulates that such ordinance must be a general noise ordinance that does not apply solely to fireworks and must have been adopted on or after July 01, 2018. The City of Alpharetta’s ordinance does not meet these requirements.

* Fireworks cannot be used within any park or other City property without a permit, which we offer only as part of a City-partnered special event.

* Fireworks cannot be used within the right-of-way of any public road, street, highway, or railroad.

* Please be respectful and courteous to your neighbors who may not enjoy fireworks, may suffer from PTSD, or may have pets that are frightened by them. Also, remember that not everyone has July 5th off from work and may be trying to sleep. If you plan to use fireworks, we encourage you to talk with your neighbors ahead of time and try to accommodate their needs.

* If you are someone who does not like fireworks, please remember that Georgia law does allow those over age 18 to use them within the hours noted above. If a neighbor who plans to use fireworks comes to talk with you ahead of time, be respectful of their rights under the law and keep in mind that they are talking with you out of courtesy.

If you notice fireworks being used outside of the allowed times, please call us while it is happening. We cannot really do anything after the fact. To report possible unlawful use of fireworks, please call the non-emergency line for our Department of Public Safety at 678-297-6300, select Option 1 and provide as much detail as possible with respect to your location and where you believe the fireworks are being used.

Above all, please be safe and treat one another as you would want to be treated.