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Imagine having a free evening. You're feeling refreshed, eager for new things, and wanting to change your regular habits of relaxing at home. Life itself is your oyster! Could you opt for a) going to a gig or b) being with a partner? The answer, as frequently true with these sorts of queries, is plainly: “That depends.” Reasonable people could understandably ask: what's the concert? Who is the partner? Could it be going to be enjoyable?

Hardly anyone would choose a heavy metal lineup if the alternative was one enchanted evening with a favorite star. But adjust either end of the equation, and it turns less clearcut. Regarding the 40,000 people asked this question from a major concert promoter, no additional context was provided – and the answer came out decisively and overwhelmingly supporting concerts.

Study Data Show Surprising Choices

A global survey, polling 40,000 people aged between 18 and 54 across different nations, found that concerts have become the number one pastime, beating out athletic events, cinema and – absolutely – intimacy. Given the choice to a single form of enjoyment forever, a significant portion selected gigs, versus going to the cinema (17%) and sports events (14%). Participants were more than twice as likely to choose attending their preferred performer live (70%) over sex (30%).

You show up expecting to be happily shocked – and regularly you might find with someone else’s hair in your mouth

Perspectives and Analysis

Certainly it makes sense that a marketing research commissioned by a gig organizer should come out so overwhelmingly supporting live shows – and, amid the playful mood of a would-you-rather, if your top performer is, such as an iconic star, it's understandable why attending his concert could prevail over a ordinary situation. But this either-or decision between gigs or sex, clearly absurd as it is, is interesting to consider considering the strange juncture we’re at with both.

The Evolution of Live Music Experience

Lately, gig-going has become not just a communal experience but a serious endeavor. Event companies rightly note that arena crowds has “increased threefold year-over-year”, and music festivals sell out more rapidly than previously. Merely acquiring tickets now requires detailed strategy, rapid-fire response times and deep finances (or a high spending capacity). Although you manage, it isn't sufficient to simply turn up and enjoy the show. Nowadays exists an assumption, especially for concertgoers, that you could increase your return on investment by attending more than once (even travelling internationally), studying the performance lineup in advance and knowing your marks to perform and calls-and-responses developed through previous crowds.

Many concertgoers admit to scarred by their attendance at large concerts: what felt like a scripted production of massive crowds, where certain attendees came unaware of the routine. That 18-month concert series, generating billions, demonstrated of the extents that people will go to experience a cultural moment and experience their top musician sing, even if the live sound appears more and more secondary to the spectacle.

The State of Current Relationships

Sex, on the other hand – an accessible and available enjoyment – is in difficult times. According to contemporary studies, about a quarter of individuals engaged sexually in an typical week, while nearly 30% were abstaining. In another major country, modern figures indicated that more than 25% of adults said they had not sex even once in the last twelve months, up from smaller percentages in earlier years. In these areas, the trend has been linked to less sexual activity among younger people. Juxtapose this with the market booming for stadium extravaganzas and the fierce battle for tickets. Of course it isn't straightforward as a straightforward choice between either option – “do you prefer see a major tour often, or avoid intimacy?” – but it's possibly an signal of how people see the more reliable pleasure.

Interesting Comparisons

Intimacy and concerts are closer aligned than one may assume. Each symbolizes the commencement of a bond, a actual experience of ideas or possibility that might have amassed only in your head. You come with a basic expectation of what might happen, but hopeful of being happily shocked – and if it turns out good or bad relies heavily on whether your energy and expectations align with others. Frequently you’ll end up with someone else’s hair in your mouth, and following be hanging out for a break and a moment alone by yourself. Likewise with either, stimulants and beverages can potentially heighten or detract from the experience (but definitely make the worst experiences simpler to handle).

Seeking Harmony

The appeal to live events and relationships depends on discovering that perfect combination between familiarity and novelty, similarity and difference, work and relaxation. Certainly it happens only rarely – but it’s the memory of when they did, the understanding that it can happen, that inspires us to attempt once more: to {