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Imagine being gifted with a night off. You feel energized, open to experience, and looking to break from your regular habits of relaxing at home. Life itself awaits your choice! Could you opt for a) seeing live music or b) being with a partner? The answer, as frequently seen with such kinds of queries, is plainly: “It varies.” Mature individuals may reasonably inquire: what is the gig? Who's the companion? Will it be likely to be satisfying?

Hardly anyone would pick a heavy metal lineup if the choice was a dream date with a beloved celebrity. But adjust any part of the comparison, and it becomes less obvious. In the case of the 40,000 people presented with this choice from a major concert promoter, no such context was provided – and the result was revealed clearly and strongly in favour of concerts.

Survey Results Indicate Surprising Choices

An international report, questioning thousands of participants ranging from 18 and 54 from multiple countries, showed that gigs are now the number one pastime, ranking above athletic events, films and – indeed – intimacy. If restricted to only one option of entertainment for the rest of their lives, 39% of respondents selected live music, compared to going to the cinema (17%) and sports events (14%). Participants were more than twice as prone to choose attending their preferred performer in concert (70%) over sexual activity (30%).

You arrive hopeful of being happily shocked – and regularly you could wind up with someone else’s hair in your mouth

Context and Considerations

Of course it makes sense that a promotional study conducted for a gig organizer would result so heavily supporting gigs – and, with the speculative tone of a either-or question, if your top performer is, say a legendary singer, you can see why watching him might win out over a routine situation. But this binary choice between gigs or sex, plainly ridiculous as it is, is interesting to reflect on given the odd point we face with both.

The Transformation of Gig Attendance

Over the past few years, gig-going has grown beyond a communal experience but a intense competition. Event companies duly point out that large venue turnout has “increased threefold each year”, and live events get booked up faster than ever. Merely acquiring passes now needs detailed strategy, quick decision-making and deep finances (or a high spending capacity). Although you succeed, it’s not enough to merely attend and enjoy the show. Nowadays exists an anticipation, particularly with pop fans, that you can boost your experience quality by going multiple times (even travelling internationally), swotting up on the performance lineup in advance and knowing your marks to hit and fan traditions developed through previous crowds.

Many fans admit to scarred by their participation at popular events: what felt like a orchestrated show of thousands of people, to which some individuals turned up unaware of the routine. That 18-month event, producing huge revenue, showed of the lengths to which attendees will push to participate in a historic occasion and see their favourite artist play, though the real performance grows somewhat secondary to the production.

The Situation of Modern Intimacy

Sexual activity, by contrast – an affordable and accessible pleasure – experiences difficult times. Per modern research, about a quarter of people were intimate in an average week, while about three in ten were sexually inactive. In a different nation, recent data showed that more than 25% of individuals reported not having intimacy a single time in the past year, increasing from smaller percentages in the past. In these areas, the trend has been attributed to less sexual activity among younger people. Contrast this with the sector expanding rapidly for large concerts and the fierce battle for admissions. Of course it’s not as simple as a simple decision between either option – “could you choose experience a popular event repeatedly, or remain abstinent?” – but it might be an sign of what is viewed as the more reliable satisfaction.

Surprising Parallels

Sex and live music are closer aligned than you might think. They both embody the commencement of a bond, a real-world test of impressions or promise that might have amassed solely in your imagination. You come with a basic expectation of the probable outcome, but expecting to be pleasantly surprised – and how it ends up good or bad depends very much on if your enthusiasm and anticipations align with others. Regularly you’ll end up with another person's locks in your mouth, and afterwards be lingering for a cigarette and personal space alone. Likewise with either, substances and drinks can potentially heighten or detract from the situation (but certainly help the most unpleasant occasions simpler to handle).

Finding the Balance

The magic to both gigs and sex depends on locating that perfect combination between familiarity and novelty, consistency and change, challenge and comfort. Certainly it's uncommon – but it's the recollection of when it worked, the awareness that success is achievable, that drives us to attempt once more: to {