It's the seemingly eternal (and universal) problem facing teens in the world - where do you go to rock? Most times when bands play in clubs those clubs serve alcohol. So, if the age on your ID is less than 21, you can't get in. Well, The Rock-Box (located at 317 W. Jefferson Street) is here to give you a place to rock out.

Brought to you by the same folks who run Guzzardo Music, The Rock Box opened their doors for business in September. Since then they've been putting together great rock shows. Every Friday and Saturday night they have a different bill - and the shows are always open to fans of all ages.

Just looking at a list of some of the acts reads almost like a who's-who list of the best bands in the area. From Abcent and Chett to Trivial, Warmouth and others they've got all the rocking bases covered. If that wasn't good enough most shows feature up to five bands and only cost five bucks - a dollar a band - how can you beat that?

If that's not enough their commitment to music and to youth shows through even more on The Rock-Box' Thursday nights. Those evenings are dedicated to giving local school bands a place to play. An upcoming show by Guilford High School's jazz ensemble is just one example of this. It's a great chance for aspiring music students to get to play in front of a crowd at some place other than school. You have to give these guys kudos for that.

So, you still need more proof that the Rock-Box is a great thing? Well, see if this does the job - co-owner Arik Jenkins says that they are looking at booking in over-21 shows for some of the other nights of the week. It's obvious this show is just hitting the ground running and we can expect bigger and better things from them as they grow. As good as it is now, just think about what they can become. If you want to know what's happening at The Rock-Box there's two places to look. First, you can check out the Beet Café calendar for all their upcoming shows (and pretty much everything else that's going on in the Rockford area). If you'd prefer a concise listing for just The Rock-Box go to their myspace site at http://www.myspace.com/therockboxil. That last URL also gives information on how to get your band booked at The Rock-Box. The Rock-Box has been opened and great music is what's inside.