Thunderdome is a concept in hardcore techno and gabber music that has mainly been used for a series of parties and compilation CD albums with various artists. It is organized by the Dutch entertainment company ID&T. It started with a party in 1992, but quickly grew to a series of events in large venues. They have featured some of the biggest names in gabber and related styles as DJs and MCs. Also associated with the events and merchandise is the image of a wizard that was originally the logo of the organizers. In 2022, Thunderdome celebrated its 30th anniversary at the Jaarbeurs convention centre, Utrecht.
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. Later in 1992, they organized the first Thunderdome party, which was titled The Thunder Dome, which was held on 3 October 1992 in Heerenveen.Thunderdome a Decade event site
In 1993, ID&T / Arcade Records started a Thunderdome compilation CD series with popular gabber music. ID&T sold other kinds of merchandise such as T-shirts, bomber jackets, caps and an energy drink (Thundertaste). The Thunderdome concept was considered important to the popularization and spreading of gabber music during the 1990s.Billboard July 26, 1997 p. 44 at Google Books
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 10th anniversary of Thunderdome. A CDVarious - Thunderdome X - A Decade - Live at Discogs that was recorded live at the party and an anniversary DVDThunderdome a Decade at the Internet Movie Database were released, both entitled Thunderdome: a Decade. In 2007, the three CD set XV: 15 Years Of Thunderdome was released in celebration of Thunderdome's 15th anniversary.
The December 2012 event was advertised as being the end of Thunderdome.Thunderdome.com - Thank you for 2012 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."Thunderdome.com - Thunderdome compilation out now [CD + Digital]
On 3 November 2015, ID&T announced that while the Thunderdome concept was retired, they introduced a new similar event called "Thunderdome Die Hard Day" due to massive demand. The event took place on 5 December 2015.THUNDERDOME DIE HARD DAY ANNOUNCEMENT On 3 October 2016, the 24th anniversary of the first edition of Thunderdome, ID&T announced a second Die Hard Day event to take place on 3 December 2016 in Amsterdam.
At the Dominator Festival on 16 July 2016, a plane with a banner that read "25 Years of Thunderdome - See You in 2017" was seen flying over the festival grounds.Bassmusic's announcement The Thunderdome Facebook page uploaded a post that read "See you in 2017", which confirmed rumours about a 25th anniversary edition of Thunderdome.Thunderdome's Facebook page After Die Hard Day II, ID&T announced that the third edition would not happen in 2017 due to their preparations for the 25th anniversary edition of Thunderdome. Instead, Die Hard Day III was held on 27 October 2018, again in Amsterdam.
On 17 February 2017, ID&T released the trailer for the 25th anniversary of Thunderdome, which took place on 28 October 2017 at Jaarbeurs Utrecht.
On 24 July 2018, a plane flew over the festival grounds at the Dominator Festival again, similar to the 2016 festival, with a banner that read "Thunderdome - See you in 2019".Coretours announcement This was followed up with a trailer uploaded to Thunderdome's YouTube channel on 30 January 2019, stating that the 2019 edition would take place at Jaarbeurs Utrecht on 26 October 2019.The official Thunderdome 2019 trailer
On 14 October 2019, during the lead-up to the 2019 edition, Thunderdome released a trailer on their YouTube channel about an upcoming documentary titled Thunderdome Never Dies - The Full Story. The 82-minute documentary, produced in conjunction with Deep Thought Productions and 2CFilm, details the history and impact of Thunderdome, including its origins. The documentary was released in theatres in the Netherlands on 14 November 2019.Thunderdome Never Dies - Official Trailer
On 8 September 2021, Thunderdome released a short 10-second teaser on their YouTube channel announcing the 2021 edition of Thunderdome, due to take place on 11 December 2021 at Jaarbeurs Utrecht. A full 1-minute trailer was released on 6 October.Thunderdome is BACK in 2021Thunderdome 2021 | Official Trailer This edition was subsequently postponed due to special event rules in the Netherlands following the COVID-19 pandemic. It took place on 10 December 2022 at Jaarbeurs Utrecht, celebrating the 30th anniversary of Thunderdome. An updated trailer was released on 10 August 2022.Thunderdome 2022 | Official Trailer
Events
In The Netherlands The Final Exam - Jaarbeurs in Utrecht - 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 - Fun Factory in Zaandam - 29 April 1995 Thunderdome vs. Hellraiser - Sporthallen Zuid in Amsterdam - 26 August 1995 Thunderdome '96 'Dance Or Die!' - Fec Expo in Leeuwarden - 20 April 1996 Thunderdome @ Mysteryland - Jaarbeurs in Utrecht - 22 February 1997 Thunderdome @ Mysteryland - Recreatieplas Bussloo in Bussloo - 4 July 1997 Thunderdome 'Eastern Edition' - Expo Center in Hengelo - 29 November 1997 Thunderdome - Fec Expo in Leeuwarden - 28 November 1998 Thunderdome - Thialf in Heerenveen - 2 October 1999 Thunderdome - Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam - 25 August 2001 Thunderdome 'A Decade' - Amsterdam RAI - 12 October 2002 Thunderdome - Jaarbeurs in Utrecht - 25 October 2003 Thunderdome - Jaarbeurs in Utrecht - 4 December 2004 Thunderdome - Jaarbeurs in Utrecht - 3 December 2005 Thunderdome - Jaarbeurs in Utrecht - 2 December 2006 Thunderdome XV - Amsterdam RAI - 15 December 2007 Thunderdome 'Payback Time' - Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam - 24 May 2008 Thunderdome - Jaarbeurs in Utrecht - 20 December 2008 Thunderdome 'Fight Night' - Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam - 23 May 2009 Thunderdome 'Alles naar de kl#te' - Jaarbeurs in Utrecht - 19 December 2009 Thunderdome 'Breaking Barriers' - Jaarbeurs in Utrecht - 18 December 2010 Thunderdome 'Toxic Hotel' - Jaarbeurs in Utrecht - 17 December 2011 Thunderdome XX 'The Final Exam' - Amsterdam RAI - 15 December 2012 Thunderdome @ Mysteryland - Floriade in Haarlemmermeer - 26 & 27 August 2017 Thunderdome '25 Years of Hardcore' - Jaarbeurs in Utrecht - 28 October 2017 Thunderdome @ Mysteryland - Floriade in Haarlemmermeer - 25 & 26 August 2018 Thunderdome @ Mysteryland - Floriade in Haarlemmermeer - 24 & 25 August 2019 Thunderdome 'An ode to Gabber' - Jaarbeurs in Utrecht - 26 October 2019 Thunderdome @ Mysteryland - Floriade in Haarlemmermeer - 27 & 28 August 2022 Thunderdome XXX - Jaarbeurs in Utrecht - 10 December 2022 Thunderdome @ Mysteryland - Floriade in Haarlemmermeer - 26 & 27 August 2023 Thunderdome 'Xtreme Audio' - Jaarbeurs Utrecht - 9 December 2023 Thunderdome ‘Move As One’ - Jaarbeurs in Utrecht - 13 December 2025https://www.thunderdome.com/en/events/thunderdome/thunderdome-2025/
In other countries Thunderdome @ Planet Hardcore - Dendermonde - Belgium - 3 April 1994 Thunderdome - Keulen Sporthalle Köln in Cologne, Germany - 11 July 1994 Thunderdome @ Extreme - Affligem - Belgium - 16 December 1994 Thunderdome - Oberhausen in Revierpark in Ruhr, Germany - 13 May 1995 Thunderdome - Palau Vall D'Hebron in Barcelona, Spain - 23 June 1995 Thunderdome - Midland Railway Workshops in Perth, Australia - 1 October 1995 Thunderdome @ Club X - Wuustwezel - Belgium - 13 September 1996 Thunderdome '96 Part 2 - Sportpaleis in Antwerpen, Belgium - 16 November 1996 Thunderdome '97 'The Southern Edition' - Sportpaleis in Antwerpen, Belgium - 23 March 1997 Thunderdome in Italy - Number One, Corte Franca (BS), Italy - 7 September 1997 Global Hardcore Nation - Sportpaleis in Antwerpen, Belgium - 18 October 1997 Thunderdome @ Cherry Moon - Lokeren - Belgium - 31 October 1997 Global Hardcore Nation: The Cosmic Journey - Sportpaleis in Antwerpen, Belgium - 7 February 1998 Thunderdome @ Nature One in Hasselbach, Germany - 1 August 2008 Thunderdome @ Nature One in Hasselbach, Germany - 1 August 2009 Thunderdome @ Nature One in Hasselbach, Germany - 31 July 2010 Global Hardcore Nation @ Tomorrowland in Boom, Belgium - 21 July 2017 Thunderdome on Tour @ Tomorrowland in Boom, Belgium - 22 July 2018 Thunderdome 2024 'Omega / Alpha' - Sportpaleis in Antwerpen, Belgium - 13 & 14 December 2024
Albums The Thunderdome CD series began in 1993. Originally, the CD albums were released by Arcade Records.Various - Thunderdome - F*ck Mellow, This Is Hardcore From Hell at Discogs According to ID&T and Arcade, "more than 1.500.000 Thunderdome albums" had been sold worldwide by 1995."The Best of Thunderdome" booklet (1995) Arcade 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,Various - Thunderdome at Discogs and, from 2004 onwards, by UniversalVarious - Thunderdome 2nd Gen Part 1 - Malice To Society at Discogs. In 2008, the series was handed over to Dance-Tunes.Various - Thunderdome (the 2008 album) at Discogs
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.Various - Thunderdome (The American album) at Discogs
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 for compilationshitparade.ch Thunderdome IV - The Devil's Last Wish (1993) reached number 3 in the Austrian Music Charts for compilationsaustriancharts.at and number 4 in the Swiss Music Charts for compilationshitparade.ch Thunderdome V - The Fifth Nightmare (1994) reached number 5 in the Austrian music charts for compilationsaustriancharts.at and number 4 in the Swiss compilation chartshitparade.ch Thunderdome VI - From Hell To Earth (1994) reached number 9 in the Swiss compilation chartshitparade.ch Thunderdome VII - Injected With Poison (1994) reached number 8 in the Swiss compilation chartshitparade.ch Thunderdome VIII - The Devil In Disguise (1995) reached number 6 in the Swiss compilation chartshitparade.ch Thunderdome IX - Revenge Of The Mummy (1995) reached number 6 in the Austrian compilation chartsaustriancharts.at and number 4 in the Swiss compilation chartshitparade.ch Thunderdome X - Sucking For Blood (1995) peaked at number 6 in the Austrian compilation charts austriancharts.at and number 5 in the Swiss charts hitparade.ch Thunderdome XI - The Killing Playground (1995) peaked at number 7 in the Austrian compilation charts austriancharts.at and number 6 in the Swiss compilation charts hitparade.ch Thunderdome XII - Caught In The Web Of Death (1996) peaked at number 5 in the Austrian compilation chartsaustriancharts.at and number 4 in the Swiss compilation chartshitparade.ch Thunderdome XIII - The Joke's On You (1996) peaked at number 6 in the Swiss compilation chartshitparade.ch