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Picture having a open night. You're feeling rejuvenated, ready for adventure, and hoping to break from your typical schedule of post-work slumping. Your options is your oyster! Would you choose a) seeing live music or b) being with a partner? The answer, as typically the case with these types of hypotheticals, is clearly: “That depends.” Reasonable people might logically ask: what kind of the concert? With whom is the partner? Is it likely to be enjoyable?

Few would select a heavy metal lineup if the other option was a dream date with a favorite star. Yet change any part of the equation, and it turns less obvious. In the case of the thousands surveyed presented with this choice through a live event company, no such details was offered – and the result was revealed clearly and strongly supporting concerts.

Study Data Reveal Unexpected Choices

A worldwide report, interviewing thousands of participants ranging from 18 and 54 in 15 markets, found that live music are now the most popular form of entertainment, surpassing sports, cinema and – yes – sex. Given the choice to a single form of activity for the rest of their lives, a significant portion selected concerts, versus film attendance (17%) and games (14%). The group was over two times as prone to select watching their top musician on stage (70%) rather than intimacy (30%).

You appear anticipating happily shocked – and quite often you could wind up with a stranger's hair in your mouth

Factors and Reflections

Of course it’s not surprising that a promotional study commissioned by a gig organizer should come out so heavily preferring live shows – and, amid the playful spirit of a hypothetical choice, if your preferred musician is, for example Paul McCartney, one can appreciate why watching him may be chosen rather than a common or garden situation. Yet this two-option scenario between concerts or intimacy, clearly absurd though it may be, is fascinating to reflect on given the odd point we experience with both.

The Change of Gig Attendance

Over the past few years, concert attendance has become not just a communal experience but a serious endeavor. Live organizations appropriately highlight that large venue turnout has “increased threefold year-over-year”, and live events get booked up quicker than before. Merely acquiring tickets now demands military-level planning, instant reactions and significant funds (or a high spending capacity). Even if you manage, it isn't sufficient to just show up and enjoy the show. Nowadays exists an assumption, at least among music enthusiasts, that you might enhance your return on investment by attending more than once (potentially going abroad), swotting up on the performance lineup in advance and memorizing the cues to follow and audience interactions established by previous crowds.

Many fans describe being scarred by their attendance at popular events: what seemed like a orchestrated show of thousands of people, to which certain attendees arrived unfamiliar with the protocol. Those lengthy event, producing huge revenue, was proof of the degree to which attendees will push to feel part of a cultural moment and experience their top musician play, though the live sound seems increasingly secondary to the show.

The State of Contemporary Sexuality

Sex, conversely – a relatively cheap and accessible pleasure – faces difficult times. Based on recent surveys, nearly one in four of people were intimate in an average week, while just under a third were not engaging. In a different nation, current statistics revealed that over a quarter of adults reported not having sex a single time in the previous year, increasing from fewer people in previous decades. Across these regions, the shift has been linked to reduced intimacy among younger people. Contrast this with the sector booming for large concerts and the intense rivalry for passes. Naturally it’s not as simple as a basic option between both alternatives – “could you choose attend a huge concert often, or avoid intimacy?” – but it might be an indication of what is viewed as the more reliable pleasure.

Interesting Comparisons

Relationships and gigs are more similar than people often believe. They both embody the commencement of a connection, a actual experience of expectations or potential that could have built just in your mind. You arrive with some idea of how it’s likely to go, but expecting to be pleasantly surprised – and if it turns out satisfying or frustrating rests largely on how your vibe and anticipations correspond with partners. Regularly you could wind up with a stranger's hair in your mouth, and later be lingering for a break and a moment alone by yourself. And, in both cases, drugs and alcohol can potentially heighten or lessen the experience (but absolutely assist the most dire occasions simpler to handle).

Seeking Harmony

The wonder to both gigs and sex depends on finding that elusive sweet spot between familiarity and novelty, similarity and difference, work and relaxation. Of course it occurs infrequently – but it's the remembrance of when they did, the knowledge that it can happen, that inspires us to try again: to {