Thunderdome (music festival) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Thunderdome is a famous concept in hardcore techno

Hardcore techno

Hardcore techno is a type of electronic music typified by the rhythmic use of distorted and atonal industrial-like beats and samples...

and gabber

Gabber

Gabber , is a style of electronic music and a subgenre of hardcore techno. "Gabber" is a slang word of Yiddish origin that means "mate", "buddy" or "friend"....

music, and is mainly used for an ongoing series of parties and CD-albums. It is organized by the Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

entertainment company ID&T

ID&T

ID&T is a Dutch entertainment and medium enterprise that was founded in the early 1990s.ID&T stands for the initials of three founders of the company, Irfan, Duncan and Theo, all residents of Amsterdam...

History

Before the Thunderdome concept

Concept

The word concept is used in ordinary language as well as in almost all academic disciplines. Particularly in philosophy, psychology and cognitive sciences the term is much used and much discussed. WordNet defines concept: "conception, construct ". However, the meaning of the term concept is much...

was started ID&T

ID&T

organized a big rave

Rave

Rave, rave dance, and rave party are parties that originated mostly from acid house parties, which featured fast-paced electronic music and light shows. At these parties people dance and socialize to dance music played by disc jockeys and occasionally live performers...

called The Final Exam, that was held on 20 June 1992. This was the first attempt to bring hardcore

Hardcore techno

Hardcore techno is a type of electronic music typified by the rhythmic use of distorted and atonal industrial-like beats and samples...

and gabber

Gabber

Gabber , is a style of electronic music and a subgenre of hardcore techno. "Gabber" is a slang word of Yiddish origin that means "mate", "buddy" or "friend"....

to a wide audience and the first event organized by ID&T, who would later go on to organize other big dance music

Dance music

Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...

events such as Mystery Land, and Sensation White, and Black

Sensation (event)

Sensation is an indoor electronic dance music event which originated in the Netherlandsand organized by ID&T. The original event, which ran exclusively in the Amsterdam ArenA for a period of five years until 2005, is now located throughout Poland, Spain, Austria, Chile, Germany, Belgium, Hungary,...

. Later in 1992 they organized the first Thunderdome party, which was simply titled The Thunder Dome.

In 1993, ID&T

ID&T

/ Arcade Records

Arcade Records

Arcade Records was a Dutch multimedia concern, which started off as a record label specialized in compilations.-History:The label itself was founded in 1972 by Herman Heinsbroek, who followed the example of its UK division. Seeing the huge success of their releases the company grew enormously and...

also started a Thunderdome compilation CD-series with popular gabber

Gabber

Gabber , is a style of electronic music and a subgenre of hardcore techno. "Gabber" is a slang word of Yiddish origin that means "mate", "buddy" or "friend"....

music. ID&T also sold other kinds of merchandise such as t-shirts, bomber-jackets, caps and even an energy drink (Thundertaste). The Thunderdome concept was considered important to the popularization and spreading of gabber

Gabber

Gabber , is a style of electronic music and a subgenre of hardcore techno. "Gabber" is a slang word of Yiddish origin that means "mate", "buddy" or "friend"....

music during the 1990s. Though it was the biggest and most popular concept in the scene through most of the 1990s, that title is now being rivaled by other events, such as the ones organized by Masters of Hardcore

Masters of Hardcore

Masters of Hardcore is currently the biggest and best-known independent gabber music record label.Founded in 1995 in Zaandam, Netherlands, MOH was set out to revive the then stagnating gabber scene, which was considered watered down and blending into other "non-purist" genres like happy hardcore...

.

In late 1999 ID&T

ID&T

took a break from the Thunderdome concept and stopped producing the parties and CDs. The break lasted until 2001, when they resumed throwing parties and producing CDs, which continue presently. After the re-start, the parties were held annually until 2007. Since then two parties every year have been held. In 2002 the concept for the party was the ten year anniversary of Thunderdome. A CD that was recorded live at the party and an anniversary DVD were released, both entitled Thunderdome a Decade. In 2007, the 3 CD set XV: 15 Years Of Thunderdome was released.

In The Netherlands

The Final Exam 20 June 1992
Thunderdome I - Thialf in Heerenveen - 3 October 1992
Thunderdome II - Frieslandhallen in Leeuwarden - 13 February 1993
Thunderdome III - Statenhal in Den Haag - 13 March 1993
Thunderdome IV - Thialf in Heerenveen - 3 April 1993
Thunderdome V - 'The Final Thunderdome' Martinihal in Groningen - 8 May 1993
Thunderdome - Martinihal in Groningen - 9 October 1993
Thunderdome - Jaarbeurs in Utrecht - 27 November 1993
Thunderdome meets Multigroove - Amsterdam - 25 April 1995
Thunderdome vs. Hellraiser - Amsterdam - 26 August 1995
Thunderdome - '96 'Dance Or Die!' Fec Expo in Leeuwarden - 20 April 1996
Thunderdome @ Mysteryland - Jaarbeurs Utrecht - 22 February 1997
Thunderdome @ Mysteryland- Bussloo - 4 July 1997
Thunderdome - Fec Expo Leeuwarden - 28 November 1998
Thunderdome - Thialf Heerenveen - 2 October 1999
Thunderdome - Heineken Music Hall Amsterdam - 25 August 2001
Thunderdome - RAI Amsterdam
Amsterdam RAI Exhibition and Convention Centre
The Amsterdam RAI Exhibition and Convention Centre , or RAI for short, is a complex of conference and exhibition halls in the Zuidas business district of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The complex gives its name to the nearby Amsterdam RAI railway station...

- 12 Oktober 2002 [Thunderdome a Decade]
Thunderdome - Jaarbeurs Utrecht - 25 October 2003
Thunderdome - Jaarbeurs Utrecht - 4 December 2004
Thunderdome - Jaarbeurs Utrecht - 3 December 2005
Thunderdome - Jaarbeurs Utrecht - 2 December 2006
Thunderdome - RAI amsterdam - 15 December 2007 [Thunderdome XV]
Thunderdome - Pay back time - Heineken Music Hall Amsterdam - 24 May 2008
Thunderdome - Jaarbeurs Utrecht - 20 December 2008
Thunderdome - Fight Night - Heineken Music Hall Amsterdam - 23 May 2009
Thunderdome - Alles naar de kl#te - Jaarbeurs Utrecht 19 December 2009
Thunderdome - Breaking Barriers - Jaarbeurs Utrecht - 18 December 2010

In other countries

Thunderdome - Keulen Sporthalle Koln
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...

in Germany - 11 July 1994
Thunderdome - Oberhausen in Revierpark in Germany - 13 May 1995
Thunderdome - Palau Vall D'Hebron in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

, Spain - 23 June 1995
Thunderdome - Midland Railway Worksops, Perth Australia - 1 October 1995
Thunderdome'96 Part 2 - Sportpaleis in Antwerpen, Belgium - 16 November 1996
Thunderdome'97 - Sportpaleis in Antwerpen, Belgium - 29 March 1997
Global Hardcore Nation - Sportpaleis in Antwerpen, Belgium - 18 October 1997
Global Hardcore Nation: The Cosmic Journey - Sportpaleis in Antwerpen, Belgium - 7 February 1998

The CD albums

The Thunderdome CD-series began in 1993. Originally the CD-albums were released by Arcade Records

Arcade Records

. According to ID&T and Arcade "more than 1.500.000 Thunderdome albums" had been sold worldwide by 1995. In 2000 no album was released since ID&T took a break from the Thunderdome concept. From 2001 onwards the albums were released by ID&T's own record label, and from 2004 onwards by Universal

Universal Music Group

Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...

In 2008 the series was handed over to Dance-Tunes.

In 1998 there was an attempt to launch a separate Thunderdome series in the US under the Arcade America label, but only one album was released.

Reception

When the first Thunderdome album was re-released in 2010, Ben Martijn (a new member of Party Animals

Party Animals (musical group)

Party Animals are a pop-gabber group from The Netherlands. The band was created by producers Jeff Porter, Jeroen Flamman together with vocalists MCs Remsy, Evert van Buschbach, Patrick de Moor, Dennis Adam and Paul Grommé...

) wrote a favorable review on the FOK!

FOK!

FOK! is a Dutch website and virtual community, containing active content like news, reviews, columns and polls. It was founded by Danny Roodbol, and is one of the largest internet communities of the Netherlands. The forum's user group is diverse, though much of its content is targeted towards a...

website closing with the words "[the album is] full of history and indispensable in the collection of a real hardcore fan!"

Main series

Thunderdome - F*ck Mellow This Is Hardcore From Hell (1993)
Thunderdome II - Back From Hell! (Judgement Day) (1993)
Thunderdome III - The Nightmare Is Back (1993) reached number 4 in the Swiss Music Charts
Swiss Music Charts
The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75...

for compilations
Thunderdome IV - The Devil's Last Wish (1993)reached number 3 in the Austrian Music Charts for compilations and number 4 in the Swiss Music Charts for compilations
Thunderdome V - The Fifth Nightmare (1994) reached number 5 in the Austrian music charts for compilations and number 4 in the Swiss compilation charts
Thunderdome VI - From Hell To Earth (1994) reached number 9 in the Swiss compilation charts
Thunderdome VII - Injected With Poison (1994) reached number 8 in the Swiss compilation charts
Thunderdome VIII - The Devil In Disguise (1995) reached number 6 in the Swiss compilation charts
Thunderdome IX - Revenge Of The Mummy (1995) reached number 6 in the Austrian compilation charts and number 4 in the Swiss compilation charts
Thunderdome X - Sucking For Blood (1995) peaked at number 6 in the Austrian compilation charts and number 5 in the Swiss charts
Thunderdome XI - The Killing Playground (1995) peaked at number 7 in the Austrian compilation charts and number 6 in the Swiss compilation charts
Thunderdome XII - Caught In The Web Of Death (1996) peaked at number 5 in the Austrian compilation charts and number 4 in the Swiss compilation charts
Thunderdome XIII - The Joke's On You (1996) peaked at number 6 in the Swiss compilation charts
Thunderdome XIV - Death Becomes You (1996) peaked at number 8 in the Swiss compilation charts
Thunderdome XV - The Howling Nightmare (1996) Reached number 63 in the Dutch Top 100 Albums
Thunderdome XVI - The Galactic Cyberdeath (1997)
Thunderdome XVII - Messenger Of Death (1997)
Thunderdome XVIII - Psycho Silence (1997)
Thunderdome XIX - Cursed By Evil Sickness (1997)
Thunderdome XX (1998)
Thunderdome XXI (1998)
Thunderdome XXII (1998)
Thunderdome - Hardcore Rules The World (1999)
Thunderdome - Past, Present, Future (1999)
Thunderdome 2001 a.k.a. Harder Than Hard (2001)
Thunderdome 2001 Part 2 (2001)
Thunderdome 2002 (2002)
Thunderdome 2003 Part 1 (2003)
Thunderdome 2003 Part 2 (2003)
Thunderdome 2nd Gen Part 1 (2004)
Thunderdome 2005-1 (2005)
Thunderdome 2006 (2006)
Thunderdome 2007 (2007)
Thunderdome XV (2008) Highest placement in the Dutch Compilation Top 30: 5
Thunderdome (2008) Highest placement in the Dutch Compilation Top 30: 8
Thunderdome Fight Night (2009) Highest placement in the Dutch Compilation Top 30: 14
Thunderdome - Alles naar de klote (2009) Highest placement in the Dutch Compilation Top 30: 11
Thunderdome - Pure and Powerful Hardcore (2010) Highest place in the Dutch Compilation Top 30: 9

Special CDs

Thunderdome - The Megamix Of Thunderdome 1-5! (1994) reached number 5 in the Austrian Music Charts for compilations
Thunderdome - Hardcore Will Never Die (The Best Of) (1995) reached number 10 in the Swiss Music Charts
Swiss Music Charts
The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75...

for compilations
Thunderdome Australian Tour Vol 1 - Thunder Downunder (1995)
Thunderdome - The X-mas Edition (1994)
Thunderdome '96 - Dance Or Die! (Live Recorded at FEC-Expo Center Leeuwarden 20.04.96) (1996) reached number 9 in the Swiss Music Charts
Swiss Music Charts
The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75...

for compilations
Thunderdome - The Best Of (1996)
Thunderdome '97 (1997)
Thunderdome - The Best Of '97 (1997)
Thunderdome Live Presents Global Hardcore Nation (1997)
Thunderdome Live - Recorded at Mystery Land The 4th of July 1998 (1998)
Thunderdome - The Best Of '98 (1998)
Thunderdome - The Essential '92-'99 Collection (1999)
Thunderdome - A Decade Live (2002)
Thunderdome Turntablized : Mixed by Unexist (2004)

The vinyl releases

The Dreamteam - Thunderdome (Dreamteam Productions)
Thunderdome 3 (Arcade)
Thunderdome - The Fuckin Megamix
DJ Dano - Thunderdome 4 EP (Dreamteam Productions)
F. Salee - Thunderdome IV EP (Dreamteam Productions)
DJ Buzz Fuzz - Thunderdome 4 EP (Dreamteam Productions)
The Prophet - Thunderdome 4 EP (Dreamteam Productions)
The Dreamteam - Thunderdome Remix EP (Dreamteam Productions)
Thunderdome 4 The Megamixes (Total Recall)
Thunderdome 4 The Megamixes -Picture Disc- (Total Recall)
Thunderdome 5 The Megamixes (Total Recall)
Thunderdome 6 Sampler (ID&T Records)
Thunderdome 6 Megamix (ID&T Records)
Thunderdome 7 Sampler (ID&T Records)
Thunderdome 7 Megamix (ID&T Records)
Thunderdome Winter Experience (ID&T Records)
Thunderdome 8 Sampler (ID&T Records)
Thunderdome 9 Sampler (ID&T Records)
Thunderdome 10 Sampler (ID&T Records)
Thunderdome The Unreleased Projects (ID&T Records)
Thunderdome '96 - The Thunder Anthems (ID&T Records)
Thunderdome '98 - Hardcore Rules The World (ID&T Records)
Korsakoff - The Powerrave Experience (Stardom - Thunderdome 2004 Anthem) (Pro Artist Management)
Thunderdome 2006 (Thunderdome Records)
Promo & MC Drokz - Thunderdome 2007 Anthem / 3 Steps Ahead - Remember Remixes (The Third Movement)
DJ Mad Dog & MC Justice - Payback Time (The Official Thunderdome Anthem) (Traxtorm Records)
Endymion & Nosferatu - Act Of God (Thunderdome 08 Anthem) (Thunderdome Records)
Thunderdome Fight Night: The Thunderdome Fight Night Anthems 2009 (Thunderdome Records)

Songs that make references to Thunderdome

Because of the popularity of the Thunderdome concept, some artists have made tributes to it in their songs. These are some examples:

3 Steps Ahead
Peter-Paul Pigmans
Peter-Paul Pigmans was a Dutch gabber music producer, best known for his production under the pseudonym 3 Steps Ahead....

- This is the Thunderdome ("This is the Thunderdome")
3 Steps Ahead - Thunderdome till we Die ("Don't you believe we're in Thunderdome till we die")
DJ Dano - Welcome To The Thunderdome ("Welcome To Another Edition Of Thunderdome")
DJ E-rick & Tactic - Hardcore Rules the World ("Welcome to Thunderdome '98")
DJ E-rick & Tactic - Meet her at Thunderdome (Samples obviously taken from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome is a 1985 Australian post-apocalyptic film directed by George Miller and George Ogilvie, written by Miller, Doug Mitchell and Terry Hayes, and starring Mel Gibson and Tina Turner. It is the third installment in the action movie Mad Max franchise...

because they contain the word "Thunderdome")
DJ Mad Dog And MC Justice - Payback Time ("For all the fuckers and bitches that left us behind! This is thunderdome!")
DJ Promo - Feel the Thunder ("We never stop give you what you want, we never stop give you what you need, Thunderdome, under makes me wonder, feel the bass, there will be no escape, check it, Thunderdome")
Gabbaheads - I'm a Thunderdome Baby ("I'm a Thunderdome baby, so now you can hear me")
Gabber Piet - Gabber Mack ("Shave your head down to the bone, raving at the Thunderdome")
The Prophet, Gizmo, Dano & Buzz Fuzz - Thunderdome '93 ("We will take you on a trip into thunder. Thunderdome!")

External links

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