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Envision finding yourself with a open night. You are rejuvenated, ready for adventure, and hoping to break from your usual routine of post-work slumping. Your options is your oyster! Would you choose a) attending a concert or b) engaging in intimacy? The response, as frequently seen with such kinds of questions, is clearly: “That depends.” Thinking adults could understandably ask: what's the gig? With whom is the other person? Will it be expected to be enjoyable?

Few would choose a Limp Bizkit/Slipknot/Korn triple bill if the alternative was a magical night with a beloved celebrity. However tweak any part of the equation, and it becomes less clearcut. Regarding the participants presented with this choice by a live event company, no additional clarification was offered – and the result came out clearly and overwhelmingly supporting concerts.

Survey Results Indicate Surprising Choices

A global report, questioning thousands of participants aged between 18 and 54 across 15 markets, revealed that live music currently stand as the number one leisure activity, ranking above athletic events, movies and – absolutely – sex. Given the choice to only one option of entertainment for the rest of their lives, a significant portion picked gigs, versus going to the cinema (17%) and athletic competitions (14%). They were also significantly more as inclined to choose attending their preferred performer live (70%) rather than sexual activity (30%).

You appear anticipating happily shocked – and frequently you might find with someone else’s hair in your mouth

Factors and Reflections

Of course it makes sense that a PR survey conducted for a gig organizer might conclude so strongly supporting concerts – and, in the freewheeling mood of a would-you-rather, if your top performer is, such as Paul McCartney, you can see why attending his concert could prevail rather than a common or garden encounter. However this binary choice between concerts or intimacy, plainly ridiculous even if it seems, is interesting to consider amid the peculiar juncture we’re at with each.

The Transformation of Gig Attendance

In recent years, concert attendance has evolved into more than a group event but a intense competition. Event companies rightly note that stadium attendance has “increased threefold each year”, and music festivals get booked up quicker than before. Just obtaining passes now needs detailed strategy, quick decision-making and bottomless pockets (or a substantial budget). Although you’re successful, it isn't sufficient to just show up and watch the performance. Nowadays exists an expectation, especially for concertgoers, that you can boost your return on investment by seeing several shows (including overseas trips), swotting up on the performance lineup in advance and understanding the rituals to follow and calls-and-responses created by earlier audiences.

Several attendees report feeling scarred by their participation at popular events: what felt like a scripted production of huge audiences, in which particular fans arrived unaware of the routine. That 18-month concert series, earning massive sums, showed of the lengths to which people will go to participate in a historic occasion and experience their top musician perform, even if the live sound seems increasingly less important than the production.

The State of Modern Intimacy

Intimacy, by contrast – a relatively cheap and accessible pleasure – is in challenging circumstances. Based on modern research, about a quarter of adults had sex in an regular period, while nearly 30% were sexually inactive. In another major country, current statistics revealed that more than 25% of individuals admitted to avoiding intimacy a single time in the last twelve months, rising from smaller percentages in previous decades. In these areas, the change has been linked to reduced intimacy with younger generations. Juxtapose this with the sector booming for large concerts and the intense rivalry for passes. Of course it isn't straightforward as a basic option between either option – “could you choose attend a huge concert multiple times, or avoid intimacy?” – but it’s perhaps an indication of what is viewed as the more consistent pleasure.

Unexpected Similarities

Sex and live music are closer aligned than one may assume. Both represent the activation of a connection, a actual experience of expectations or potential that could have built just in your mind. You come with a basic expectation of how it’s likely to go, but expecting to be happily shocked – and if it turns out enjoyable or disappointing rests largely on whether your energy and anticipations match theirs. Quite often you’ll end up with someone else’s hair in your mouth, and following be waiting around for a break and a moment alone alone. And, in both cases, stimulants and beverages can either enhance or reduce the event (but absolutely assist the most unpleasant experiences simpler to handle).

Achieving Equilibrium

The wonder to live events and relationships hinges on discovering that elusive sweet spot between familiarity and novelty, similarity and difference, effort and ease. Of course it occurs infrequently – but it's the remembrance of when it worked, the knowledge that it’s possible, that inspires us to attempt once more: to {