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Envision having a night off. You're feeling rejuvenated, open to experience, and looking to change your usual routine of relaxing at home. Life itself is your oyster! Could you prefer a) seeing live music or b) having sex? The answer, as is often the case with such kinds of queries, is clearly: “It depends.” Reasonable people might logically inquire: what is the show? Who's the other person? Will it be likely to be enjoyable?

Hardly anyone would choose a intense rock concert if the alternative was a dream date with a favorite star. Yet change either end of the comparison, and it grows less obvious. Regarding the participants posed this query by a gig organization, no such clarification was provided – and the result emerged unambiguously and heavily supporting live music events.

Study Data Show Surprising Choices

An international survey, interviewing 40,000 people from 18 and 54 from multiple countries, found that concerts have become the world’s top form of entertainment, surpassing athletic events, cinema and – indeed – sex. Given the choice to only one option of entertainment permanently, a significant portion chose concerts, against watching movies (17%) and athletic competitions (14%). Participants were significantly more as inclined to choose seeing their favourite artist in concert (70%) rather than sexual activity (30%).

You arrive hopeful of being pleasantly surprised – and quite often you could wind up with a stranger's hair in your mouth

Factors and Reflections

Naturally it's expected that a PR survey commissioned by a gig organizer would result so heavily in favour of live shows – and, in the freewheeling spirit of a either-or question, if your top performer is, say a legendary singer, you can see why seeing him may be chosen over a routine situation. However this binary choice between gigs or sexual activity, clearly absurd though it may be, is fascinating to reflect on amid the peculiar moment we experience with these two aspects.

The Evolution of Concert Culture

In recent years, gig-going has grown beyond a shared activity but a serious endeavor. Live organizations duly point out that stadium attendance has “increased threefold each year”, and live events are fully reserved quicker than before. Just obtaining passes now demands military-level planning, quick decision-making and significant funds (or a high spending capacity). Although you manage, it isn't sufficient to merely attend and experience the event. Nowadays exists an assumption, particularly with music enthusiasts, that you might enhance your enjoyment value by seeing several shows (including overseas trips), studying the performance lineup in advance and understanding the rituals to follow and audience interactions created by earlier audiences.

Numerous concertgoers admit to affected by their experience at large concerts: appearing as a scripted production of massive crowds, to which certain attendees came unfamiliar with the routine. That 18-month event, generating billions, demonstrated of the degree to which attendees will push to experience a cultural moment and see their favourite artist play, even if the live sound appears more and more less important than the show.

The State of Current Relationships

Intimacy, conversely – an accessible and common experience – is in difficult times. Per modern research, nearly one in four of people had sex in an typical week, while nearly 30% were abstaining. Elsewhere, recent data revealed that a significant portion of individuals admitted to avoiding sexual activity even once in the last twelve months, increasing from fewer people in the past. In both territories, the shift has been linked to decreased encounters in youth demographics. Compare this with the sector expanding rapidly for stadium extravaganzas and the intense rivalry for tickets. Of course it’s not as simple as a simple decision between either option – “do you prefer experience a popular event often, or avoid intimacy?” – but it’s perhaps an signal of what is viewed as the more dependable pleasure.

Unexpected Similarities

Sex and live music are closer aligned than one may assume. They both embody the commencement of a connection, a practical trial of ideas or possibility that may have developed just in your mind. You come with a basic expectation of what might happen, but expecting to be delightfully amazed – and if it turns out enjoyable or disappointing rests largely on if your enthusiasm and hopes align with others. Frequently you might find with someone else’s hair in your mouth, and afterwards be lingering for a cigarette and personal space alone. And, in both cases, substances and drinks can sometimes improve or lessen the experience (but absolutely assist the most dire experiences more bearable).

Achieving Equilibrium

The wonder to both gigs and sex relies on finding that elusive sweet spot between familiarity and novelty, sameness and variation, challenge and comfort. Of course it occurs infrequently – but it’s the memory of when they did, the awareness that it’s possible, that inspires us to give it another shot: to {