One of New England’s great rock-and-roll institutions, Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel has hosted more than its share of rock, rap, and other musical royalty over the years, establishing a reputation as a place you could catch up-and-coming stars as well as established ones who’d stop back even after they’d moved on to the next level. The storied old club has left its old location — 239 Westminster Street — but the new digs are a mere two blocks away, at the Strand, a restored art-deco theater at 79 Washington Street with a capacity of 1200 (they’re in the process of renovating a balcony that’ll hold an additional 750). The new version will henceforth be known as Lupo’s at the Strand (401-272-LUPO). Lupo’s little-sister club, the Met Café, has closed, but the small-room shows are being siphoned off to the Century Lounge (401-751-2255), the Call (401-421-7170), and the relatively new Ultra Live (401-454-LIVE). Eve 6 play Lupo’s at the Strand tonight (December 11), and the goth cello trio Rasputina hit the Century Lounge on Saturday.

Hilary Duff parlayed her role on the Disney Channel tween sit-com Lizzie McGuire into big-screen stardom, but the bigger surprise was her Matrix-enhanced debut album, Metamorphosis, which not only hit #1 on the Billboard albums chart but also dragged the soundtrack to The Lizzie McGuire Movie into the Top 10. Avril fans will find plenty to like, though they’ll have to dig beyond the singles to "The Math," which has the heaviest guitars from the Matrix yet. Duff headlines the sold-out Kiss 108 Jingle Ball on Monday at Tsongas Arena (978-848-6900) in Lowell with emo-pop luminaries Simple Plan, chart-topping American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken, teen-pop latecomer Stacie Orrico, VH1 funk-rock faves Maroon 5, and more.

Those who were confident that black metal would never make the Billboard charts got a scare this year when the long-suffering British outfit Cradle of Filth cracked the Top 200 in April with their Damnation and a Day (Epic) and Nordic brawlers Dimmu Borgir’s Death Cult Armageddon (Nuclear Blast) followed suit in September. They’re both haunting New England this week: Dimmu Borgir show up at the Palladium (800-477-6849) in Worcester on Saturday and Cradle of Filth hit the Webster Theater (860-525-5553) in Hartford on Wednesday. Also look for Mushroomhead, who’ve inherited the mantle of brutal masked Midwestern metalmen from Slipknot, at the Webster on Friday.

We knew Simon and Garfunkel were old; who knew they were still friends? Their "Old Friends" tour brings the "Scarborough Fair"-weather pals to the FleetCenter (617-931-2000) for two nights of quintessential folk-pop nostalgia tonight and Saturday. Meanwhile, Dave Matthews’s solo jaunt with pal Emmylou Harris opening hits the Dunkin Donuts Center (401-331-6700) in Providence on Saturday and a sold-out FleetCenter on Tuesday. And Guster play the Calvin Theater (413-584-1444) in Northampton on Sunday before hooking up with their buddy Howie Day for gigs at the Orpheum (617-931-2000) in Boston on Tuesday and at the State Theater (207-780-8265) in Portland on December 19 and 20.