Ah, the tribulations of rock-and-roll romance. Last year, Tim and Brody Armstrong were punk’s premier power couple: their bands, Rancid and the Distillers, respectively, were set to sign to Warner Bros., and then they would conquer the world side by side on this summer’s Warped Tour. One icky divorce later, the Distillers are on Warners but off Warped, whereas Rancid are on Warped and off Warners (or at least are playing possum to ward off the inevitable backlash; see " Pick of the Week, " in 8 days a week). But Brody has rebounded nicely, hopping aboard Lollapalooza — where Rolling Stone photographed her sticking her tongue down the throat of Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme. Meanwhile, Perry Farrell is finding that the middle ground between Warped’s teenpunk party and OzzFest’s new-metal goonfest is thinner than expected: a Lollapalooza stop in New York was cancelled last week, but the show goes on Friday at the Tweeter Center (617-931-2000) in Mansfield with Jane’s Addiction, Audioslave, the Donnas, Incubus, Cave In, the Burning Brides, and more.

Pop worshippers converge on the Worcester Centrum (617-931-2000) this Friday and Saturday, when Ruben Studdard, Clay Aiken, and the other democratically elected stars of American Idol’s chart-topping second season will follow in the footsteps of founding dynasts Kelly & Justin. The tour also hits the Dunkin’ Donuts Civic Center (401-331-6700) in Providence next Saurday, August 2.

American Idol, of course, is the perfect target for the rage of disaffected metalheads — and around the corner from the Centrum this weekend, the dark and the dense hold court for an unofficial anti-Idol weekend. New York goth-metal titans Type O Negative kick off a tour behind their new Life Is Killing Me (Roadrunner; see " Off the Record, " on page 29 of Arts) on Friday at the Palladium (800-477-6849) in Worcester and on Saturday at Toad’s (203-562-5589) in New Haven; Lacuna Coil, an Evanescence-like alterna-metal band fronted by a super-hot Italian chick, open both dates. And on Saturday and Sunday, the Mass hardcore scene unites to play a pair of Palladium shows to benefit " Team Neale " — a charity established for the family of the late Steve Neale, a father of two and member of the groups Barrit and Ink Cartridge Funeral who died at age 23 in a car accident last year. Saturday’s bill includes Thursday and Converge; Sunday’s guests include Bane, Hatebreed, the Hope Conspiracy, Most Precious Blood, and Barrit.

Elsewhere, Boston’s own punk franchise the Explosion wind up their Tarantulas Records tour with Paint It Black, the Faux, and former Dropkick Murphy’s singer Mike McColgan’s new band the Street Dogs at the Met Café (401-861-2142) in Providence on Friday. And Sheryl Crow abandons the Bon Jovi tour for headlining dates on Friday at Meadowbrook Farm (603-293-4700), in Gilford, New Hampshire; on Sunday at Charles Ives Concert Park (203-837-9226) in Danbury, Connecticut; and next Thursday at Foxwoods (800-200-2882) in Mashantucket.