His first October-scheduled Lincoln Center show in New York was gone with the wind, or better: blown away by superstorm Sandy. Last Friday, it seemed the Weather God still hasn’t turned into a Chilly Gonzales fan. According to numerous tweets, people queued along the street for hours to see his two substitutional shows – in the pouring rain. It was an outpour of praise in the end which proves that it was obviously worth it. Apart from the US premiere of his Piano Concerto No. 1 with a chamber orchestra, Chilly Gonzales also had an ace up on his sleeve for the encore: Feist. Pictures show her sitting on his lap while he keeps playing (another example of how dedicated he must be to his instrument…)

That moment when @chillygonzales says “please welcome to the stage… Leslie @feistmusic“. @lcatrium @lincolncenter twitter.com/activecultures…

— Bill Bragin (@activecultures) January 12, 2013

Apart from that, professional hard partier and fellow musician Andrew WK was spotted in the audience. Let’s hope this is a good sign for a future piano battle re-match – unless Andrew WK is now more scared than ever…