About
DreTube (dretube.nl)
Hi. I’m Andre. Yes, the Andre. The one from the footer, the contact form, and every legal page you didn’t read. Sit down, grab a drink (water, we’ll get to that), and let me tell you how a grown adult with a day job ended up running a video website that does exactly two things.
It all started with a beat
Somewhere along the line, I heard a kick drum at 4 a.m. in a room full of strangers, and my life was never the same. Okay, that’s dramatic. My life was exactly the same, except now I own too many hard drives and have opinions about hi-hats.
I love electronic dance music. Not “I have a playlist for the gym” love. I mean “I will talk to you about the difference between two types of acid squelch for forty minutes and not notice you left” love. Techno, house, trance, hardcore, gabber, breakbeat, if it has a repetitive pulse and makes sensible people behave strangely, I’m in.
Why 1989 to 1999?
Because that was the golden decade, and I will not be taking questions. (Please use the contact form for questions.)
I’m fascinated by videos from those years. The grainy camcorder footage. The fashion. The dancing. The sheer confidence of a man in a fluorescent tracksuit doing something with his arms that no doctor would recommend. The visuals look like they were made by someone who just discovered what a computer was and decided to use all of its features at once. Every effect. At the same time.
And the quality! Beautifully terrible. Tape wobble, mono sound, a cameraman who was clearly also enjoying the party. You can practically smell the dry ice through the screen. Modern 4K footage is crisp and clean and tells you nothing. A smeared VHS recording tells you everything.
Total strangers, one room, one beat
Here’s the thing that really gets me. This music brought people together, in big numbers. Warehouses, fields, huge halls, thousands of people who had nothing in common except a pulse and a pair of shoes they didn’t mind destroying. Different jobs, different backgrounds, different towns, and for a few hours nobody cared. Everybody was facing the same direction, moving to the same beat, and a stranger would hand you a cup of water without being asked. In this economy!
You can see it in those old videos. Look past the questionable haircuts, and look at the faces. That’s not people performing for a camera. That’s people who are genuinely happy to be there, and that is rare to see on the internet these days.
The elephant in the room (it’s wearing a smiley shirt)
I’d be lying if I said this scene was powered by music alone. XTC, as in ecstasy, played a big role in the story, and it would be silly to pretend otherwise. The music and that particular substance went hand in hand in those years, like fries and mayonnaise (the Dutch know this to be a sacred bond). A lot of the “everybody loves everybody” feeling in those videos had some chemical assistance, and that’s part of the history of this music, whether we like it or not.
Now, let me be very clear, because lawyers and mothers might be reading: DreTube does not promote or endorse drug use. I’m here for the music, the history and the dancing. Drugs carry real risks, and not every night in those days ended well. If you take anything, look up proper harm-reduction information, and look after yourself and your friends. At minimum, drink water. Not “an energy drink”, water. Be smarter than the guy in the video who clearly missed the memo.
So what is this website?
It’s a hobby. A pure, unfiltered, no-business-plan hobby. I’m not trying to make money from it. There are no ads, no premium tier, no “sponsored by a VPN”, and no merch. Nobody is paying me, and I wouldn’t know how to invoice you if you tried. It runs on a server in Germany and my love for old rave footage, and the second one is far cheaper than the first.
I’m not building an empire. I just wanted a place where I could watch these videos with the best crowd in the world: people who know that a drop at the right moment is better than most things in life.
Why only “watch and rate”?
Because I’m one man with a limited amount of free time and an unlimited amount of other hobbies. No accounts, no comments, no uploads from random strangers. If you want drama, you’ve come to the wrong place. Here you watch, you rate, and you go home, which is more or less what a good party looks like anyway. [Add or change this to fit your own reasons.]
A few things I believe
- A good track at the right volume solves most problems.
- Any video from 1994 is automatically cooler than anything filmed this week.
- Hard-edged breakbeat is a valid personality.
- Your parents were right about the hearing damage. Wear earplugs. Yes, even you.
- If a video has a thumbs-down, it just means that person doesn’t understand art. (That’s not true, but it’s good for morale.)
Get in touch
Got a great old video I should see? A favorite party, a legendary set, or a clip that proves your uncle was there? Use the contact form, and tell me about it. I will read every message, and I will probably reply with far too many words.
Now stop reading and go watch something. The bass isn’t going to feel itself.
Andre
Owner, curator, and a man with strong opinions about 1993.