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Imagine being gifted with a night off. You're feeling energized, open to experience, and hoping to shake up your regular habits of relaxing at home. Life itself offers possibilities! Would you choose a) going to a gig or b) engaging in intimacy? The answer, as typically the case with these sorts of questions, is clearly: “It varies.” Reasonable people might logically ask: what is the concert? With whom is the partner? Could it be expected to be enjoyable?

Hardly anyone would pick a intense rock concert if the alternative was a dream date with Jonathan Bailey. But adjust one side of the comparison, and it turns less clearcut. In the case of the participants asked this question from a live event company, no additional clarification was offered – and the response was revealed unambiguously and strongly supporting gigs.

Research Findings Show Unexpected Trends

A worldwide study, polling 40,000 people from 18 and 54 across 15 markets, showed that gigs are now the most popular leisure activity, ranking above sports, films and – yes – sex. When limited to only one option of enjoyment forever, a significant portion picked gigs, compared to watching movies (17%) and games (14%). The group was significantly more as likely to choose watching their top musician live (70%) over sexual activity (30%).

You appear hopeful of being happily shocked – and frequently you’ll end up with a stranger's hair in your mouth

Perspectives and Analysis

Certainly it’s not surprising that a promotional study carried out for a gig organizer would result so strongly supporting concerts – and, with the speculative tone of a hypothetical choice, if your top performer is, such as an iconic star, one can appreciate why attending his concert might win out instead of a common or garden situation. However this binary choice between live music or sex, obviously silly even if it seems, is fascinating to consider given the odd point we’re at with both.

The Transformation of Concert Culture

In recent years, live music participation has grown beyond a group event but a intense competition. Live organizations duly point out that stadium attendance has “increased threefold year-over-year”, and live events get booked up quicker than before. Simply getting tickets now demands military-level planning, instant reactions and deep finances (or a high spending capacity). Even if you succeed, that alone won't do to merely attend and watch the performance. Nowadays exists an assumption, especially for concertgoers, that you might enhance your enjoyment value by going multiple times (even travelling internationally), studying the song selection in advance and understanding the rituals to follow and calls-and-responses established by past attendees.

Several concertgoers report feeling affected by their participation at major tours: appearing as a orchestrated show of massive crowds, to which certain attendees came unfamiliar with the protocol. The extended tour, producing huge revenue, showed of the extents that fans will travel to experience a cultural moment and see their favourite artist play, although the real performance appears more and more overshadowed by the show.

The Condition of Modern Intimacy

Sexual activity, by contrast – an affordable and available enjoyment – experiences difficult times. Per contemporary studies, approximately 25% of individuals engaged sexually in an average week, while about three in ten were sexually inactive. In another major country, current statistics revealed that a significant portion of individuals reported not having sexual activity at all in the last twelve months, rising from lower numbers in the past. In these areas, the trend has been linked to reduced intimacy among younger people. Compare this with the industry driving growth for major events and the intense rivalry for tickets. Naturally it isn't straightforward as a straightforward choice between one or the other – “could you choose experience a popular event often, or avoid intimacy?” – but it’s perhaps an indication of how people see the more consistent enjoyment.

Surprising Parallels

Intimacy and concerts are closer aligned than you might think. Each symbolizes the commencement of a relationship, a practical trial of impressions or potential that may have developed solely in your imagination. You arrive with a general notion of how it’s likely to go, but anticipating delightfully amazed – and how it ends up good or bad relies heavily on whether your energy and expectations correspond with partners. Regularly you could wind up with someone else’s hair in your mouth, and afterwards be lingering for a break and personal space on your own. And, in both cases, substances and drinks can sometimes improve or detract from the situation (but definitely make the most unpleasant experiences simpler to handle).

Seeking Harmony

The magic to concerts and intimacy hinges on discovering that hard-to-find balance between comfort and excitement, sameness and variation, work and relaxation. Naturally it happens only rarely – but it's the remembrance of when it worked, the knowledge that it can happen, that inspires us to attempt once more: to {