• Those attending the New American Music Union Saturday at the SouthSide Works encountered a double stage set up in the plaza near the Cheesecake Factory for the college band contest.

In all there were 16 bands from colleges across the country, with styles ranging from pop-punk to noise rock to indie-folk.

I served as a judge along with editors from Rolling Stone and CMJ (College Music Journal), a curator from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, folks from HUM music in Los Angeles and Mayor Luke Ravenstahl (previously known as a big Toby Keith fan).

The winner, announced Saturday afternoon by festival curator Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, was The Black Fortys, a stylish power-pop band from Southern Illinois University with a singer who sounded much like Mick Jones from The Clash and Big Audio Dynamite.

My ballot had them in second place to The Elizabethan Report, a thoroughly spastic Afro-punk band from Brigham Young. The only local representatives, Nothing Unexpected, played a set of pop-punk that was similar to too many bands you'd find on the Warped Tour.

• In response to the review of the NAMU main stage, I've been getting two different kinds of e-mails: people saying I was dead-on about Dylan's performance and those who think I'm an idiot (I place myself somewhere in between).

One dedicated Dylan fan wrote, "I thought the show was pretty Lamo. His set list was strange and he appeared out of place with the younger crowd who were more interested in texting and drinking beer than listening to his timeless lyrics. I also thought his voice was pretty bad Saturday night. He did not appear to be engaged with the crowd at all...."

Another wrote that it read like the review of "a casual fan" (despite the fact that my second favorite Dylan album, after "Blonde on Blonde," is "Street Legal").

Another wrote sarcastically, "It is so great to see a 64-year-old artist get critiqued for playing too many new songs and [messing] around with the arrangements of the 'crowd-pleasers.' It's what makes Dylan Dylan, an artist not a crowd pleaser."

Actually, he's 67, and, yeah, it's great that he's playing new material, but so many of the songs -- "Spirit on the Water," "Beyond the Horizon," his slowed-down version of "It Ain't Me, Babe" -- just didn't fit the spirit of the day.

What I would love to see is Dylan just retreat from the road for a few years, make a record or two and try to nurse his voice back to health. I love Dylan, but I'm frankly tired of listening to him sound like death warmed over, and, sorry, I fail to see the point of new arrangements that are worse than the original ones. "Tangled Up in Blue" is a beautiful song with a gorgeous melody and flow. Now it sounds like hell.

And the whole keyboard thing -- you can't even hear what he's playing! I miss those days when he'd send the band off and play a few songs on acoustic guitar.

• Kill the Drama is ready to unveil its new video.

Watch the Post-Gazette Web site Monday for the premiere of "Live Before It Kills You," the prize for winning the PG's first annual Pittsburgh Rocks contest.

On the site today is an interview with the band and PG videographers Steve Mellon and Matt Freed on the making of the video. Go to post-gazette.com.

• Mikey Shanley, a Pittsburgher now based in Miami, is one of the many DJs heading for the Butler Fairgrounds this weekend for TriUMF (Tristate Underground Music Festival), a blast of urban music in a rural setting.

Also on hand among the slew of spinners will be Bassbin Twins, DJ Swamp, Delirium, Kaenow and Tattoo Detectives.

Shanley, grandson of local legend Mad Mike, recently made it to the finals of a DJ contest held by a local city paper in Miami.

TriUMF runs Friday through Sunday. For details, go to www.myspace.com/phoenixmanagement.

-- Scott Mervis