RECORD STORE TALES PART 119: Judas Is Rising In Hamilton, Ontario

Feburary, 2005.  The week before Judas Priest’s new Angel of Retribution comeback album was about to drop.
 
I was on the road again, this time working in Hamilton Ontario.  I don’t remember the circumstances anymore.  Store after store, they all blended together.  I’m sure it was another staffing crisis, again.  I dutifully hit the road to Hamilton and helped put out whatever fire was happening.  I do remember that in the chaos I had forgotten to do something at my home store, where I was also pulling double duty.  I remember catching shit for whatever it was, while unwrapping those shiny new awesome Priest discs.

The burden of sin echoes the prophecy
Ascending from Hell, forever despising
Judas is rising

 
I remember that the store was really bad shape, really badly organized.  Albums were everywhere, just filed carelessly, and a lot had gotten lost somewhere in the netherworld of obscure genres.  Cases had gone missing, but so had ther actual CD’s behind the counter.  So to keep me busy, there was a list of missing discs and sections to organize. 

There was plenty of time to do this.  I don’t know how that store stayed in business, because the days that I spent there were really slow.  I remember playing almost an entire CD of the Mr. Bergis prank phone calls while I organized sections, because over an hour had passed before the last soul walked through my doors!  Not including me, as I went out to my car to get the CD.

Lunch time wasn’t too bad, as a lot of surprisingly polite highschool kids frequented the store at lunch.  They didn’t buy a lot, but they were pleasant enough and it was better than picking my nose.  That was refreshing, most highschool kids at my home store were pricks.

 
White bolts of lightning
Came out of nowhere
Blinded the darkness
Created the storm

It was pretty much just the kids that were tolerable.  The adults, not so much!  I remember opening up one morning and the first people in were selling a large box of discs.  They were a pain in the ass.  Everything I did was, “Oh, the regular person does it another way,” or “The regular person pays more for that one,” or “The regular person doesn’t ask me for ID.” 

It sucked being an irregular person!
 
There was also this one fellow looking for a Christmas song by the Eagles.  I knew this was on their recent box set, which I verified on Allmusic and told him.  I didn’t have a copy of the box set, since we were a used CD store and nobody had traded one in, which I explained to him.
 
“No problem, I don’t want to buy it.  I just want to hear it.  Can you play it?”
 
Unfortunately in 2005 that wasn’t possible, not with the computers we had, and any websites that would have allowed me to play music were blocked anyway.  Upper management was more worried about staff sitting there mucking around on the internet, than being able to play a song sample for customers.
 
“You can’t play it for me?  Seriously?  That’s useless!” said the nice man, as he walked out.

Forged out of flame from chaos to destiny
Bringer of pain, forever undying
Judas is rising

All told, Hamilton was another “fun” and “exciting” road trip for me.  The only good thing that happened was the chance to play the new Priest in store.  Not only was there no upper management to tell me to turn it off, but it wasn’t even out yet.  Sneak preview for my ears only, in an empty store, private audience of one!  Judas is rising indeed!