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Envision finding yourself with a free evening. You are energized, open to experience, and hoping to change your usual routine of evening scrolling. Your options offers possibilities! Would you opt for a) going to a gig or b) engaging in intimacy? The answer, as frequently seen with these sorts of hypotheticals, is plainly: “It depends.” Mature individuals may reasonably inquire: what's the gig? Who's the other person? Could it be expected to be good?

Few would choose a heavy metal lineup if the other option was one enchanted evening with Jonathan Bailey. However tweak one side of the scenario, and it grows less obvious. In the case of the 40,000 people asked this question from a gig organization, no further details was offered – and the result came out decisively and heavily preferring live music events.

Study Data Indicate Unexpected Preferences

An international report, questioning a large sample ranging from 18 and 54 across multiple countries, found that gigs have become the number one leisure activity, surpassing sports, movies and – indeed – sexual intercourse. If restricted to only one option of enjoyment permanently, a significant portion chose concerts, versus film attendance (17%) and games (14%). Participants were over two times as likely to choose attending their preferred performer in concert (70%) over sexual activity (30%).

You arrive anticipating happily shocked – and regularly you’ll end up with someone else’s hair in your mouth

Context and Considerations

Of course it’s not surprising that a PR survey commissioned by a concert promoter might conclude so overwhelmingly supporting gigs – and, amid the playful mood of a would-you-rather, if your preferred musician is, such as Paul McCartney, one can appreciate why seeing him might win out rather than a routine experience. Yet this two-option scenario between gigs or sexual activity, plainly ridiculous even if it seems, is noteworthy to think about amid the peculiar juncture we’re at with each.

The Evolution of Live Music Experience

Over the past few years, concert attendance has become not just a group event but a competitive sport. Live organizations duly point out that arena crowds has “tripled year-over-year”, and music festivals get booked up quicker than before. Merely acquiring passes now needs extensive preparation, rapid-fire response times and bottomless pockets (or a generous credit card limit). Even if you’re successful, it’s not enough to merely attend and watch the performance. There’s now an assumption, particularly with concertgoers, that you can boost your return on investment by attending more than once (potentially going abroad), swotting up on the song selection beforehand and knowing your marks to perform and audience interactions developed through earlier audiences.

Several attendees report feeling scarred by their experience at large concerts: what felt like a scripted production of huge audiences, to which particular fans turned up unaware of the protocol. That 18-month event, generating billions, demonstrated of the lengths to which attendees will push to participate in a significant event and watch their preferred performer sing, though the live sound seems increasingly overshadowed by the production.

The Condition of Modern Intimacy

Intimacy, by contrast – an affordable and available enjoyment – is in challenging circumstances. Per modern research, about a quarter of individuals were intimate in an regular period, while just under a third were sexually inactive. Elsewhere, modern figures indicated that a significant portion of people admitted to avoiding sex even once in the past year, increasing from smaller percentages in the past. In these areas, the trend has been associated with decreased encounters in youth demographics. Contrast this with the market expanding rapidly for major events and the intense rivalry for passes. Of course it's more complicated as a straightforward choice between one or the other – “would you rather see a major tour often, or remain abstinent?” – but it’s perhaps an signal of which is perceived as the more dependable enjoyment.

Interesting Comparisons

Relationships and gigs are more similar than one may assume. Each symbolizes the initiation of a bond, a real-world test of expectations or possibility 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 pleasantly surprised – and how it ends up enjoyable or disappointing rests largely on if your enthusiasm and hopes correspond with partners. Frequently you might find with someone else’s hair in your mouth, and later be waiting around for a smoke and some quiet time alone. And, in both cases, stimulants and beverages can potentially heighten or lessen the situation (but certainly help the worst occasions more bearable).

Finding the Balance

The appeal to live events and relationships hinges on discovering that perfect combination between familiarity and novelty, consistency and change, work and relaxation. Naturally it's uncommon – but it's the remembrance of when they did, the awareness that success is achievable, that drives us to attempt once more: to {