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Picture finding yourself with a free evening. You're feeling energized, ready for adventure, and wanting to break from your usual routine of post-work slumping. The world offers possibilities! Do you opt for a) attending a concert or b) having sex? The outcome, as frequently the case with these types of questions, is plainly: “That depends.” Thinking adults could understandably wonder: what's the gig? Who's the other person? Will it be expected to be enjoyable?

Not many would pick a heavy metal lineup if the alternative was a magical night with a beloved celebrity. Yet change any part of the comparison, and it turns less obvious. Regarding the thousands surveyed posed this query from a major concert promoter, no further details was given – and the result came out decisively and overwhelmingly supporting gigs.

Survey Results Show Interesting Preferences

An international study, questioning thousands of participants aged between 18 and 54 in multiple countries, showed that gigs have become the number one pastime, surpassing sports, cinema and – absolutely – intimacy. If restricted to a single form of entertainment forever, 39% of respondents chose concerts, against film attendance (17%) and games (14%). Participants were over two times as inclined to select attending their preferred performer on stage (70%) instead of intimacy (30%).

You appear expecting to be happily shocked – and quite often you’ll end up with someone else’s hair in your mouth

Factors and Reflections

Of course it's expected that a PR survey carried out for a concert promoter should come out so heavily in favour of gigs – and, with the speculative mood of a hypothetical choice, if your favourite artist is, such as Paul McCartney, one can appreciate why attending his concert might win out over a routine experience. But this two-option scenario between concerts or sex, obviously silly though it may be, is noteworthy to reflect on amid the peculiar moment we’re at with these two aspects.

The Transformation of Live Music Experience

Lately, live music participation has evolved into more than a shared activity but a serious endeavor. Event companies appropriately highlight that arena crowds has “tripled each year”, and festivals are fully reserved quicker than before. Merely acquiring tickets now needs military-level planning, rapid-fire response times and significant funds (or a substantial budget). Although you succeed, it’s not enough to simply turn up and watch the performance. Nowadays exists an anticipation, at least among concertgoers, that you might enhance your return on investment by seeing several shows (even travelling internationally), studying the performance lineup ahead of time and understanding the rituals to hit and audience interactions established by past attendees.

Many attendees admit to scarred by their experience at popular events: appearing as a scripted production of huge audiences, to which some individuals came unaware of the steps. That 18-month event, earning massive sums, demonstrated of the lengths to which attendees will push to feel part of a cultural moment and watch their preferred performer perform, even if the live sound appears more and more overshadowed by the show.

The Situation of Current Relationships

Sexual activity, by contrast – an affordable and accessible pleasure – is in difficult times. Per contemporary studies, about a quarter of adults were intimate in an average week, while just under a third were abstaining. In another major country, modern figures indicated that over a quarter of adults said they had not intimacy a single time in the last twelve months, increasing from fewer people in earlier years. In both territories, the change has been associated with less sexual activity with younger generations. Contrast this with the sector expanding rapidly for large concerts and the intense rivalry for admissions. Naturally it’s not as simple as a basic option between either option – “would you rather see a major tour often, or stay celibate?” – but it's possibly an indication of how people see the more consistent enjoyment.

Surprising Parallels

Relationships and gigs are more comparable than people often believe. Each symbolizes the initiation of a connection, a practical trial of ideas or promise that might have amassed just in your mind. You arrive with a general notion of how it’s likely to go, but expecting to be happily shocked – and how it ends up satisfying or frustrating rests largely on if your enthusiasm and anticipations correspond with partners. Frequently you might find with someone else’s hair in your mouth, and later be waiting around for a smoke and a moment alone alone. And, in both cases, drugs and alcohol can potentially heighten or lessen the situation (but certainly help the worst experiences simpler to handle).

Finding the Balance

The appeal to live events and relationships hinges on locating that perfect combination between familiarity and novelty, consistency and change, challenge and comfort. Certainly it happens only rarely – but it’s the memory of successful moments, the understanding that it’s possible, that drives us to try again: to {