The much anticipated opening of the TM Sisters installation/performance piece Whirl, Crash, GO! at Locust Projects drew a huge and creative crowd — so creative that the line outside made for a more interesting show than the performance inside. The jockeying for position was cut-throat as would-be patrons fought for the pink wrist bands that would guarantee admission. The de facto costumes outdoors rivaled the Krush Groove-y Krelwear knits designed for Whirl (and that’s saying alot; we love Krelwear!). Among the most eye-catching: a Roman toga in purple; a cigarette-girl skirt set off by a vinyl single record as a head piece.

Once inside, the public refused to remain spectators, despite a low barrier that corralled us, cow-like, into the middle of the floor. It was not just the heavy, heavy bass of Otto von Schirach that had us itchy.  The beats and the heat heightened the Warholian banality of watching a passel of none-too-skilled free skaters and equally okay synchronized swimmers reflected in huge shards of mirror suspended from the ceiling. It was like Fuerza Bruta, without the fuerza.

One forlorn fan who thought there would be open skate stood with a pair of white lace-ups circa 1982 in her hands. Even more disappointed, a crew of burly Broward County Derby Grrls handed out flyers for their own event during a lull, then elbowed each other as they cut across the skating path to unlock the front door and escape en masse. That may have been the highlight of the show.