Longwalkshortdock Rock Pit, Salmo BC August 10

Published Aug 14, 2012

Whether you're seeing Longwalkshortdock live for the first time or the sixth, it's always a unique experience. Where most DJs are happy enough just mixing and maybe throwing the odd nod or hand gesture toward the crowd, Dave King commits to embodying his sound.Presenting only his own original beats, triggered and twisted on the fly care of Ableton, Kaoss pads and whatnot, King explodes across the stage, leaping, fist-pumping, head-banging, mouthing words and commanding the heavens as his melodies develop and beats drop.At one point, the crowd got so into it that they started a "long-walk-short-dock" chant, with each syllable falling on a 4/4 beat. By the time King threw on the theme from, donned brown overalls and a spiky yellow "hair" hat to appear like the character Cloud Strife, and produced his signature Buster Sword -- made out of a repurposed keytar, which he then triumphantly smashed to pieces -- no one required drugs to feel the ecstasy of the moment.He is, without a doubt, one of the most dynamic performers in Canadian electronic music.