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Saturday, Aug. 10
Nicolas Winding Refn’s ultraviolent 2011 thriller Drive will be remembered as one of its decade’s aesthetic touchstones, ushering in a new age of neon-drenched cyberpunk aesthetics and helping birth the “synthwave” genre through its throbbing electronic soundtrack. Among the contributors to its soundtrack was Desire, a collab between singer Megan Louise and Portland producer Johnny Jewel (Chromatics, Glass Candy), who will perform at a screening of Drive at the Hollywood this Saturday. Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd. 8:30 pm. $20. All ages.
Saturday, Aug. 10
The release of Olivia Rodrigo’s breakout single “drivers license” was the kind of monocultural pop moment that comes along only once every few years or so. We could only helplessly watch as it steamrolled its way up the charts, transforming a onetime minor Disney star into pop’s keenest observer of social rituals since Taylor Swift, whose music she’s young enough to have grown up with. After two albums of acid-tongued pop-punk and knife-twisting ballads, “drivers license” is just a small part of a big career. Moda Center, 1 N Center Court St. 7:30 pm. $230+. All ages.
Sunday, Aug. 11
Even in the SoundCloud rap era’s garish early years, Ski Mask the Slump God stood out: a word-pretzeling, tongue-twisting eccentric from South Florida who presented himself on record as some kind of ageless being sent to Earth to sow seeds of discord. While most rappers of the era reveled in a punkish disrespect for rap orthodoxy, Ski’s ping-ponging delivery allied him as much with SoundCloud rap’s nihilism as a tradition of cartoonish oddballs that includes Blueface, E-40 and Del tha Funkee Homosapien. Roseland Theater, 8 NW 6th Ave. 7 pm. $37.50+. All ages.