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Picture being gifted with a free evening. You're feeling energized, ready for adventure, and wanting to shake up your regular habits of post-work slumping. The world offers possibilities! Could you opt for a) going to a gig or b) being with a partner? The answer, as typically seen with these types of questions, is clearly: “It depends.” Reasonable people may reasonably ask: what is the show? Who's the companion? Is it likely to be good?

Few would pick a heavy metal lineup if the alternative was a magical night with a favorite star. But adjust either end of the equation, and it turns more complicated. For the thousands surveyed presented with this choice by a live event company, no additional details was provided – and the answer was revealed unambiguously and heavily preferring gigs.

Survey Results Show Interesting Choices

A global study, questioning thousands of participants from 18 and 54 across different nations, found that gigs currently stand as the world’s top leisure activity, beating out athletic events, movies and – absolutely – intimacy. Given the choice to a single form of entertainment forever, 39% of respondents picked gigs, versus film attendance (17%) and sports events (14%). They were also more than twice as inclined to prefer attending their preferred performer on stage (70%) rather than intimacy (30%).

You appear hopeful of being happily shocked – and quite often you might find with someone else’s hair in your mouth

Factors and Reflections

Of course it's expected that a PR survey carried out for a concert promoter would result so heavily in favour of live shows – and, in the freewheeling tone of a hypothetical choice, if your top performer is, for example a legendary singer, you can see why seeing him might win out rather than a ordinary experience. But this two-option scenario between gigs or sexual activity, obviously silly even if it seems, is interesting to reflect on amid the peculiar point we’re at with these two aspects.

The Evolution of Gig Attendance

In recent years, gig-going has become not just a shared activity but a competitive sport. Live organizations appropriately highlight that large venue turnout has “tripled year-over-year”, and festivals are fully reserved quicker than before. Merely acquiring passes now needs military-level planning, rapid-fire response times and significant funds (or a substantial budget). Even if you manage, it’s not enough to merely attend and watch the performance. Nowadays exists an assumption, at least among music enthusiasts, that you might enhance your enjoyment value by seeing several shows (even travelling internationally), studying the set list in advance and memorizing the cues to perform and calls-and-responses established by previous crowds.

Numerous fans report feeling scarred by their attendance at major tours: what seemed like a orchestrated show of thousands of people, to which certain attendees turned up unfamiliar with the routine. Those lengthy event, producing huge revenue, demonstrated of the extents that attendees will push to feel part of a cultural moment and watch their preferred performer perform, even if the real performance grows somewhat secondary to the production.

The Condition of Contemporary Sexuality

Sex, on the other hand – an accessible and accessible pleasure – faces challenging circumstances. Per modern research, about a quarter of adults had sex in an typical week, while nearly 30% were not engaging. In a different nation, current statistics showed that over a quarter of adults said they had not intimacy a single time in the past year, up from lower numbers in earlier years. In these areas, the shift has been associated with reduced intimacy in youth demographics. Compare this with the industry driving growth for large concerts and the fierce battle for tickets. Naturally it’s not as simple as a basic option between both alternatives – “could you choose attend a huge concert multiple times, or avoid intimacy?” – but it’s perhaps an signal of what is viewed as the more dependable satisfaction.

Surprising Parallels

Intimacy and concerts are closer aligned than one may assume. Both represent the activation of a bond, a practical trial of expectations or possibility that could have built just in your mind. You show up with some idea of what might happen, but anticipating delightfully amazed – and if it turns out good or bad depends very much on whether your energy and hopes correspond with partners. Frequently you’ll end up with someone else’s hair in your mouth, and later be lingering for a smoke and personal space alone. And, in both cases, stimulants and beverages can potentially heighten or reduce the experience (but certainly help the worst experiences more bearable).

Finding the Balance

The wonder to concerts and intimacy relies on locating that perfect combination between comfort and excitement, consistency and change, work and relaxation. Naturally it's uncommon – but it’s the memory of successful moments, the understanding that it can happen, that drives us to try again: to {