SATURDAY

>> Guns N’ Roses rock the Aloha Stadium for the first time

Guns N’ Roses left an indelible mark on rock music of the late 1980s and early ’90s, taking their music to rough extremes and showing tender mercies. They mixed up metal and classic rock, shouts and falsetto, influenced by bands like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper and Aerosmith.

The noise and fury prompted Los Angeles Times writer Jeff Spurrier to praise their “street-born, get-stuffed attitude, an ear-shattering decibel level, four-letter lyrics and an appreciation for, in Slash’s words, the ‘extremities of violence and sex,’” in 1986 — when guitarist Slash was just 20 and lead singer Axl Rose was 22.

G N’ R’s hits, like the ballad “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” the orchestral “November Rain” and the metallic “Welcome to the Jungle” show the band’s range as well as an inventive, thoughtful side.

The group comes to Hawaii for the first time on Saturday with its “Not in This Lifetime” reunion tour, which features founding members frontman Axl Rose, Slash and bassist Duff McKagan. Honolulu is the only U.S. stop on the tour.

SUNDAY

>> Roosevelt symphonic band to perform at Carnegie Hall

Old joke: Tourist in New York asks a local: “How do I get to Carnegie Hall?” Answer: “Practice!”

Roosevelt High School’s Symphonic Band members have taken this to heart, and their prayers are being answered. The 60-plus wind, brass and percussion ensemble has been invited to perform at the New York Wind Band Festival in March, which will be held at the famous concert hall. You can give the group a listen this Sunday at the school’s winter concert.

Roosevelt’s director of music programs Gregg K. Abe said he applied for the festival thinking “we really didn’t stand a chance” — but to his surprise the band was selected as one of only four high school bands in the country to be featured. The band’s strength of performance, as seen on social media, was part of the selection process.

The band will perform two pieces at Carnegie Hall. One of them, Japanese composer Satoshi Yagisawa’s “And Then the Ocean Glows,” is on Sunday’s program. “It’s his interpretation of the Japan Sea during the course of the day and how it turns stormy during the winter season,” Abe said. “It starts out very subtle, and then towards the middle it gets more intense, and then at the end it finishes with a majestic ending. It’s a really, really nice piece.”

Sunday’s concert supports the band’s trip. Fans can also contribute via a gofundme campaign: 808ne.ws/rhsband.

MONDAY

>> Alsarah & the Nubatones set to hit the stage

Alsarah & the Nubatones, a group that performs tunes inspired by Sudanese and Egyptian folk tunes, brings its sweetly haunting sound to Blue Note Hawaii for one night.

The group got its start when lead singer Alsarah, a Sudanese refugee who has been living in America since 1994, and percussionist Rami El Aasser, who grew up drumming in school bands in Pennsylvania, started discussing traditional Nubian music and the cultural exchanges between Sudan and Egypt. With other musicians with ties to the region or an interest in its music, they developed a sound they call “East–African retro-pop.”

Their music is agitated yet joyful, with a beat that varies but is always danceable. Alsarah’s bright soprano pierces through the instrumentals with a cheerful radiance. Joined by her sister Nahid on backup vocals, she sings mostly in Arabic, a mellifluous language when sung, creating an effect reminescent of a French chanson.

The group’s 2014 debut album “Silt” received international acclaim, inspiring remixes by Bodhisattva, Nickodemus, Captain Planet and other artists. Alsarah, El Aasser and Nahid are joined by Mawuena Kodjovi on bass and Brandon Terzic on oud, a lutelike instrument. In Hawaii as artists-in-residence with Shangri La, the Museum of Islamic Art, Culture & Design, Alsarah & the Nubatones are the first to be featured in a series of inter-island performances; the band appears on Thursday at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center, mauiarts.org, and Dec. 14 at Hawaii’s Kahilu Theatre, kahilutheatre.org.

WEDNESDAY-DEC. 15

>> Richard Marx plays the Blue Note

From big hair to soft music, it’s all worked for Richard Marx. Perhaps a talent for melody and poetic lyrics had something to do with it.

Marx has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide and had 14 No. 1 singles, including the ballad that many beginning pop-pianists try to play, “Right Here Waiting.”

Guitar-lick heavy tunes like “Don’t Mean Nothing,” which earned him a Grammy nomination for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance back in the late 1980s, show the versatility of a performer who got his start singing on commercials and backing up Lionel Richie and Whitney Houston.

“Waiting” and “Don’t Mean Nothing” were among the seven tunes that Marx released as his first singles (“Keep Coming Back,” “Hazard,” “Satisfied, “Now and Forever” “Hold to the Nights” were the other five), all of them reaching No. 5 or better on the Billboard Hot 100, a record that still stands. That shows not just performance chops but an ear for what really works.

Marx has had No. 1 hits in mainstream rock, country and his primary genre, adult contemporary tunes. And as a songwriter and producer, he’s been behind hits for artists ranging from Josh Groban to Keith Urban.