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\n\tIn 1994, Andrew McMahon<\/a> got to see his first-ever concert: Billy Joel<\/a> at the Richfield Coliseum in Cleveland. He was in sixth grade, and his parents gifted him tickets to the River of Dreams<\/em> tour for Christmas. \u201cAs soon as I started playing the piano, my parents gave me Billy Joel\u2019s Greatest Hits \u2013 Volume I & Volume II<\/em>,\u201d he tells Rolling Stone <\/em>over the phone. \u201cThey were like, \u2018OK, if you\u2019re going to be a piano singer-songwriter, this is your study material.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tMore than three decades later, McMahon found himself at Carnegie Hall on March 12, performing \u201cPiano Man\u201d at The Music of Billy Joel<\/a>, a tribute concert honoring the legend. McMahon had opened for Joel in 2017, but this was a full-circle moment he\u2019d never experienced before. Not only was it his first time performing at the iconic New York City venue, but Joel himself was watching from the opera box. \u201cJesus man, what a night,\u201d McMahon says. \u201cIt was the most terrifying thing I\u2019ve ever done, but it was one of the most magical moments I\u2019ve had on a stage in my whole life. Getting to finish and then look up in the seats and see him do a standing ovation is pretty incredible.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tIt was McMahon\u2019s first time performing with a harmonica holder around his neck, and he got to rehearse it on his recent Holiday From Real cruise<\/a>. But he felt the pressure playing a song as on the nose as Joel\u2019s breakthrough hit. \u201cI really didn\u2019t want to play \u2018Piano Man\u2019 in front of Billy Joel, to be perfectly honest,\u201d he jokes. \u201cI thought about doing \u2018We Didn\u2019t Start the Fire\u2019 or \u2018Pressure.\u2019 \u2018Captain Jack\u2019 was one that I kicked around for a while. And then I watched as the list was getting made. There was a live Google doc where all the artists were putting in their first and second choices and in my mind, I was just like, \u2018How can we do a Billy Joel tribute and not have somebody play \u2018Piano Man\u2019\u201d? Nobody had chosen it. I was just like, \u2018Fine, I\u2019ll fall on the sword. I\u2019ll try.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n