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Imagine being gifted with a open night. You're feeling energized, eager for new things, and looking to break from your typical schedule of relaxing at home. Your options is your oyster! Would you choose a) attending a concert or b) engaging in intimacy? The outcome, as is often true with such kinds of questions, is obviously: “It depends.” Mature individuals could understandably wonder: what's the gig? With whom is the companion? Could it be expected to be satisfying?

Hardly anyone would pick a Limp Bizkit/Slipknot/Korn triple bill if the alternative was a magical night with a beloved celebrity. But adjust either end of the equation, and it becomes less obvious. In the case of the thousands surveyed posed this query from a major concert promoter, no additional context was offered – and the response emerged decisively and overwhelmingly in favour of concerts.

Study Data Show Surprising Preferences

An international study, polling thousands of participants from 18 and 54 in different nations, showed that gigs have become the most popular pastime, beating out sports, films and – yes – sex. Given the choice to one type of entertainment forever, nearly four in ten chose concerts, against watching movies (17%) and games (14%). They were also more than twice as likely to choose attending their preferred performer live (70%) instead of sexual activity (30%).

You show up anticipating pleasantly surprised – and frequently you’ll end up with a stranger's hair in your mouth

Context and Considerations

Certainly it makes sense that a promotional study commissioned by a concert promoter would result so strongly supporting gigs – and, amid the playful mood of a hypothetical choice, if your favourite artist is, for example Paul McCartney, it's understandable why attending his concert may be chosen over a routine experience. Yet this two-option scenario between gigs or intimacy, plainly ridiculous even if it seems, is interesting to think about amid the peculiar moment we face with both.

The Evolution of Gig Attendance

Over the past few years, gig-going has evolved into more than a shared activity but a serious endeavor. Event companies rightly note that large venue turnout has “increased threefold annually”, and music festivals are fully reserved quicker than before. Just obtaining tickets now demands military-level planning, quick decision-making and bottomless pockets (or a substantial budget). Though you succeed, that alone won't do to merely attend and experience the event. There’s now an expectation, particularly with concertgoers, that you might enhance your return on investment by seeing several shows (even travelling internationally), swotting up on the song selection beforehand and understanding the rituals to follow and fan traditions created by previous crowds.

Many fans report feeling shaken by their participation at major tours: what felt like a orchestrated show of thousands of people, to which certain attendees arrived unaware of the steps. The extended tour, producing huge revenue, was proof of the lengths to which attendees will push to feel part of a cultural moment and experience their top musician play, even if the live sound seems increasingly secondary to the production.

The State of Current Relationships

Sexual activity, by contrast – an accessible and common experience – experiences dire straits. Per contemporary studies, about a quarter of adults were intimate in an regular period, while just under a third were sexually inactive. In another major country, recent data indicated that more than 25% of individuals reported not having sexual activity even once in the previous year, rising from lower numbers in the past. Across these regions, the trend has been attributed to decreased encounters among younger people. Compare this with the industry driving growth for large concerts and the cutthroat competition for passes. Of course it isn't straightforward as a straightforward choice between either option – “do you prefer see a major tour often, or stay celibate?” – but it’s perhaps an indication of which is perceived as the more consistent pleasure.

Interesting Comparisons

Intimacy and concerts are closer aligned than people often believe. Both represent the activation of a relationship, a actual experience of ideas or promise that may have developed just in your mind. You arrive with a general notion of how it’s likely to go, but expecting to be delightfully amazed – and how it ends up enjoyable or disappointing rests largely on whether your energy and expectations correspond with partners. Frequently you might find with a stranger's hair in your mouth, and later be waiting around for a cigarette and personal space by yourself. And, in both cases, substances and drinks can sometimes improve or detract from the situation (but certainly help the most dire occasions simpler to handle).

Seeking Harmony

The wonder to live events and relationships depends on finding that perfect combination between the known and the new, sameness and variation, work and relaxation. Of course it's uncommon – but it's the recollection of when they did, the knowledge that it can happen, that inspires us to attempt once more: to {