🔗 Share this article

Imagine having a night off. You feel rejuvenated, eager for new things, and wanting to break from your usual routine of relaxing at home. Life itself is your oyster! Could you choose a) going to a gig or b) having sex? The outcome, as typically seen with such kinds of hypotheticals, is clearly: “That depends.” Thinking adults could understandably ask: what's the show? Who's the other person? Could it be likely to be good?

Few would choose a Limp Bizkit/Slipknot/Korn triple bill if the choice was a dream date with a beloved celebrity. But adjust any part of the comparison, and it grows less clearcut. In the case of the thousands surveyed posed this query from a gig organization, no such details was offered – and the answer emerged decisively and strongly in favour of concerts.

Research Findings Indicate Unexpected Preferences

A worldwide study, questioning 40,000 people from 18 and 54 across different nations, found that gigs are now the world’s top leisure activity, beating out athletic events, films and – indeed – sexual intercourse. If restricted to only one option of enjoyment permanently, 39% of respondents selected concerts, compared to watching movies (17%) and sports events (14%). Participants were over two times as likely to select seeing their favourite artist live (70%) rather than sex (30%).

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

Perspectives and Analysis

Of course it's expected that a PR survey commissioned by a gig organizer would result so strongly in favour of live shows – and, with the speculative tone of a would-you-rather, if your preferred musician is, for example Paul McCartney, one can appreciate why seeing him could prevail instead of a common or garden situation. Yet this binary choice between live music or intimacy, clearly absurd even if it seems, is interesting to consider given the odd point we’re at with both.

The Evolution of Live Music Experience

In recent years, live music participation has grown beyond a shared activity but a intense competition. Major promoters appropriately highlight that arena crowds has “tripled annually”, and festivals are fully reserved more rapidly than previously. Just obtaining passes now needs military-level planning, rapid-fire response times and significant funds (or a substantial budget). Even if you’re successful, that alone won't do to simply turn up and experience the event. Nowadays exists an expectation, particularly with concertgoers, that you can boost your experience quality by attending more than once (potentially going abroad), studying the set list in advance and understanding the rituals to follow and calls-and-responses established by earlier audiences.

Many attendees admit to affected by their participation at popular events: what felt like a orchestrated show of huge audiences, in which some individuals turned up unaware of the protocol. Those lengthy event, producing huge revenue, showed of the degree to which attendees will push to participate in a cultural moment and see their favourite artist perform, although the live sound seems increasingly overshadowed by the production.

The State of Contemporary Sexuality

Sex, on the other hand – an accessible and common experience – faces dire straits. Based on contemporary studies, approximately 25% of adults were intimate in an average week, while about three in ten were not engaging. Elsewhere, modern figures indicated that a significant portion of people reported not having intimacy even once in the past year, increasing from lower numbers in previous decades. In both territories, the shift has been associated with decreased encounters among younger people. Contrast this with the market driving growth for large concerts and the cutthroat competition for admissions. Naturally it isn't straightforward as a basic option between one or the other – “would you rather see a major tour multiple times, or avoid intimacy?” – but it's possibly an indication of what is viewed as the more consistent pleasure.

Surprising Parallels

Intimacy and concerts are more similar than people often believe. They both embody the commencement of a connection, a real-world test of impressions or possibility that may have developed just in your mind. You come with a basic expectation of how it’s likely to go, but expecting to be delightfully amazed – and how it ends up good or bad rests largely on whether your energy and expectations match theirs. Regularly you’ll end up with someone else’s hair in your mouth, and following be lingering for a smoke and a moment alone by yourself. Likewise with either, substances and drinks can potentially heighten or detract from the experience (but absolutely assist the worst experiences simpler to handle).

Achieving Equilibrium

The appeal to concerts and intimacy hinges on locating that elusive sweet spot between comfort and excitement, similarity and difference, challenge and comfort. Naturally it occurs infrequently – but it's the remembrance of successful moments, the awareness that success is achievable, that drives us to attempt once more: to {