Second City 1616 N. Wells 312-337-3992 secondcity.com Runner-Up: The Annoyance

Empty Bottle floor manager Bob Johnson may look surly, but that’s never fooled Gossip Wolf—though he’s never had to toss us out for acting a fool, either! As longtime patrons and local musicians know, Bob’s back-cracking hugs have been the highlight of any night at the club since he started working door in June 2003. Johnson’s last shift is Sunday, July 17, and he tells Gossip Wolf that he’s moving to Minneapolis soon thereafter: “It’s time to make a change....

There’s plenty to do this week. Here’s some of what we recommend: Through 7/10: The funky, florid SpongeBob Musical is running through July 10. Reader reviewer Dan Jakes writes that “even the most generic show tunes are well-executed toe tappers. The real heart of the show, though, is its spectacular design—the Rube Goldberg “volcano debris” machines are a hoot.” Wed 2 and 7:30 PM, Thu-Fri 7:30 PM, Sat 2 and 8 PM, Sun 2 PM, Tue 7:30 PM...

This week’s featured gig poster was made for Wyoming pop-punk band Teenage Bottlerocket, whose annual Birthday Bash will be livestreamed this year with the help of the people at Riot Fest. Teenage Bottlerocket play this yearly concert in honor of drummer and band cofounder Brandon Carlisle, who passed away in 2015. This year’s show will be the sixth celebration of Brandon’s life and his birthday (and the birthday of founding bassist Ray Carlisle, his twin)....

W Iñiguez and his business partner, 30-year-old Mayra Hernandez, opened the cafe last May, intending it to be part of the marketing strategy for the Back of the Yards Coffee Co., their coffee-roasting business, which launched in November 2016. The cafe serves as the public face of their larger vision: a socially and environmentally responsible coffee company that creates local jobs while promoting the arts and culture of the neighborhood where they grew up....

Street View is a fashion series in which Isa Giallorenzo spotlights some of the coolest styles seen in Chicago. As he walked into a luxurious room at the W Chicago filled with models, stylist Charles Harris, 29, still managed to turn heads. “It’s important to dress well because it brings a certain level of confidence—you walk into a room and you don’t even need to say anything before you get noticed,” he says....

Sincere Engineer Resavoir Finalist: Flesh Vortex

Lou Malnati’s loumalnatis.com Runner-Up: Pequod’s Pizza

The Book of Mormon broadwayinchicago.com Runner-Up: Rentat Metropolis Performing Arts Centre

Cassie Sakai Goat Group Wine Director Beginning her journey with the restaurant as a server, Sakai realized that becoming a sommelier seemed like the most logical and sustainable next step in her career within the service industry. Even at the age of 22, Sakai knew that working with wine is something she could do for the rest of her life. Utilizing the building blocks in place from her serving experience alongside her passion for hospitality, Sakai worked her way up the ranks to becoming the Wine Director for the Goat Group....

Until arriving in the U.S. in 2013, Tigist Tesfaw, 51, was an attorney in Ethiopia and ran a large social service agency for survivors of gender-based violence. Despite the demands of her job she always found time to cook for her family and friends. She can’t share the circumstances that made her flee Ethiopia for fear of endangering her relatives. Today she regularly prepares Ethiopian meals for her husband and children, as well as other immigrants, refugees, and asylees at the Marjorie Kovler Center in Rogers Park....

Courtesy of Alexander Duvel For almost 15 years, Andy’s Music has sat unassumingly at the corner of Belmont and Oakley. From the outside, it looks like a no-frills storefront, but entering the shop unveils a seemingly never-ending network of rooms stacked with instruments from all over the globe—almost like a world music version of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. But the city risks losing one of its most original music retailers this summer....

There’s a sly bit of metaphor employed on “Melody Unfair,” a tune from Eucalyptus (Domino), the wonderful second album by Animal Collective charter member Dave Portner, aka Avey Tare. As he sings, “She crept up to my front door / Rang the bell and now she’s leaving,” he personifies a beguiling quality in his music, where catchiness is present but elusive. That sort of slipperiness can be maddening in romantic contexts; here it pulses at the heart of things....

It is a peculiar thing to see Radiohead live, particularly in the context of a massive festival such as Lollapalooza. In the nearly quarter century since the release of their first album, the Brits have trafficked in sounds best experienced while alone. It’s music written from a vaguely isolated perspective that has the general effect of making the listener feel distant, paranoid, alienated, even alien. This ethos runs counter to the harmony and camaraderie typically stirred by the most memorable festival acts like, say, the Flaming Lips....

Royal Pawn Shop Cash America Finalists: West Town Jewelry & Loan, Big Money Pawn

Bavette’s Bar & Boeuf Travelle at The Langham

Just about the time I was truly, finally, completely ready to close the book on the municipal elections, I got a call from John Garrido ripping it open once again. Garrido is upset over the inconsistency of the laws, which cap some donations while lifting the lid on others. Something you should know about campaign operatives, if you didn’t know it already: they have a low opinion of your intelligence, as I’m reminded every time I have an off-the-record chat with an operative, often with red wine mixed in....

In 2000 the Brazilian pop singer Bebel Gilberto—daughter of the brilliant bossa nova pioneer João Gilberto—achieved a breakthrough with her album Tanta Tempo (Six Degrees), a masterful blend of sensual bossa nova grooves with gentle club flourishes that, like Starbucks, quickly became a model of middle-class sophistication. Though the music remains lovely if a bit toothless, in the years since its release she has struggled to parlay this approach into something fresh....