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Imagine having a free evening. You feel refreshed, ready for adventure, and hoping to shake up your regular habits of post-work slumping. The world is your oyster! Would you choose a) attending a concert or b) engaging in intimacy? The outcome, as typically seen with these types of queries, is obviously: “It depends.” Reasonable people may reasonably ask: what kind of the show? With whom is the partner? Could it be expected to be enjoyable?

Few would select a heavy metal lineup if the choice was a dream date with a beloved celebrity. Yet change one side of the scenario, and it turns less clearcut. Regarding the thousands surveyed asked this question by a gig organization, no additional details was offered – and the answer came out clearly and strongly preferring concerts.

Survey Results Show Interesting Preferences

An international survey, polling a large sample from 18 and 54 in multiple countries, revealed that live music currently stand as the most popular leisure activity, beating out games, cinema and – absolutely – sex. When limited to a single form of entertainment forever, nearly four in ten selected concerts, compared to watching movies (17%) and sports events (14%). They were also over two times as inclined to select seeing their favourite artist in concert (70%) rather than sex (30%).

You appear expecting to be happily shocked – and frequently you’ll end up with a stranger's hair in your mouth

Factors and Reflections

Of course it's expected that a PR survey conducted for a gig organizer should come out so heavily in favour of live shows – and, in the freewheeling spirit of a would-you-rather, if your favourite artist is, such as an iconic star, it's understandable why attending his concert may be chosen over a common or garden experience. But this either-or decision between concerts or sexual activity, plainly ridiculous though it may be, is interesting to reflect on considering the strange juncture we experience with both.

The Transformation of Concert Culture

Over the past few years, concert attendance has become not just a communal experience but a competitive sport. Live organizations rightly note that large venue turnout has “grown significantly annually”, and festivals sell out faster than ever. Just obtaining admissions now demands detailed strategy, quick decision-making and bottomless pockets (or a high spending capacity). Even if you’re successful, it isn't sufficient to simply turn up and experience the event. Nowadays exists an expectation, at least among music enthusiasts, that you might enhance your return on investment by attending more than once (even travelling internationally), studying the performance lineup ahead of time and understanding the rituals to hit and fan traditions established by previous crowds.

Several attendees report feeling affected by their experience at popular events: what seemed like a choreographed performance of thousands of people, to which particular fans came unaware of the steps. The extended concert series, earning massive sums, demonstrated of the degree to which attendees will push to participate in a historic occasion and experience their top musician play, although the real performance appears more and more secondary to the spectacle.

The Condition of Current Relationships

Intimacy, by contrast – an affordable and available enjoyment – faces challenging circumstances. Per contemporary studies, approximately 25% of people engaged sexually in an typical week, while just under a third were abstaining. In another major country, current statistics revealed that more than 25% of individuals admitted to avoiding sex even once in the last twelve months, up from fewer people in the past. In these areas, the shift has been associated with less sexual activity with younger generations. Contrast this with the industry expanding rapidly for major events and the intense rivalry for admissions. Of course it isn't straightforward as a basic option between either option – “could you choose see a major tour multiple times, or stay celibate?” – but it’s perhaps an indication of how people see the more dependable pleasure.

Unexpected Similarities

Relationships and gigs are more similar than people often believe. Both represent the initiation of a bond, a real-world test of ideas or possibility that might have amassed only in your head. You come with a basic expectation of the probable outcome, but expecting to be happily shocked – and whether it proves good or bad depends very much on if your enthusiasm and hopes correspond with partners. Regularly you might find with someone else’s hair in your mouth, and following be hanging out for a break and a moment alone alone. Similarly for each, stimulants and beverages can sometimes improve or detract from the event (but certainly help the most dire situations simpler to handle).

Achieving Equilibrium

The appeal to both gigs and sex hinges on locating that elusive sweet spot between comfort and excitement, consistency and change, challenge and comfort. Naturally it's uncommon – but it’s the memory of when they did, the knowledge that it can happen, that motivates us to give it another shot: to {