Thunderdome (music Festival) - History

History

Before the Thunderdome concept was started ID&T organized a big rave called The Final Exam, that was held on 20 June 1992. This was the first attempt to bring hardcore and gabber to a wide audience and the first event organized by ID&T, who would later go on to organize other big dance music events such as Mystery Land, and Sensation White, and Black. Later in 1992 they organized the first Thunderdome party, which was simply titled The Thunder Dome.

In 1993, ID&T / Arcade Records also started a Thunderdome compilation CD-series with popular gabber 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 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.

In late 1999 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. After the restart, one or two parties each year were 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.

The December 2012 event was advertised as being the end of Thunderdome. An anniversary compilation album was also released. A press release for this album announced that: "It all comes full circle now. It’s time to let Thunderdome become what it always has been: a legend."