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Imagine being gifted with a night off. You're feeling energized, eager for new things, and looking to break from your typical schedule of post-work slumping. Your options awaits your choice! Could you choose a) attending a concert or b) being with a partner? The answer, as is often true with such kinds of hypotheticals, is clearly: “It depends.” Mature individuals could understandably wonder: what kind of the show? Who's the partner? Could it be going to be good?

Hardly anyone would pick a heavy metal lineup if the alternative was a dream date with a favorite star. However tweak any part of the comparison, and it grows more complicated. For the thousands surveyed asked this question through a live event company, no additional clarification was offered – and the result emerged clearly and heavily preferring live music events.

Study Data Indicate Interesting Choices

An international study, interviewing 40,000 people from 18 and 54 in different nations, showed that live music currently stand as the world’s top leisure activity, surpassing games, films and – absolutely – sex. When limited to one type of enjoyment forever, nearly four in ten selected live music, compared to film attendance (17%) and sports events (14%). Participants were more than twice as prone to select attending their preferred performer live (70%) over sex (30%).

You show up anticipating delightfully amazed – and frequently you might find with a stranger's hair in your mouth

Factors and Reflections

Of course it makes sense that a PR survey carried out for a live event company would result so heavily preferring concerts – and, with the speculative tone of a would-you-rather, if your favourite artist is, such as Paul McCartney, one can appreciate why attending his concert might win out rather than a routine experience. However this binary choice between gigs or sex, clearly absurd though it may be, is interesting to consider given the odd juncture we experience with each.

The Evolution of Concert Culture

Lately, gig-going has grown beyond a shared activity but a competitive sport. Major promoters rightly note that arena crowds has “tripled annually”, and music festivals get booked up more rapidly than previously. Just obtaining tickets now requires military-level planning, rapid-fire response times and bottomless pockets (or a high spending capacity). Though you succeed, that alone won't do to just show up and watch the performance. Nowadays exists an assumption, at least among music enthusiasts, that you might enhance your return on investment by going multiple times (even travelling internationally), swotting up on the set list in advance and memorizing the cues to hit and fan traditions created by earlier audiences.

Numerous fans admit to affected by their attendance at large concerts: what seemed like a choreographed performance of massive crowds, in which particular fans turned up not knowing the protocol. That 18-month concert series, producing huge revenue, was proof of the lengths to which people will go to feel part of a historic occasion and see their favourite artist perform, even if the live sound appears more and more less important than the show.

The Condition of Modern Intimacy

Sexual activity, conversely – an accessible and available enjoyment – experiences difficult times. Per recent surveys, about a quarter of adults engaged sexually in an average week, while nearly 30% were sexually inactive. In a different nation, modern figures revealed that a significant portion of adults said they had not sex a single time in the previous year, rising from fewer people in earlier years. In these areas, the change has been linked to reduced intimacy among younger people. Contrast this with the market expanding rapidly for stadium extravaganzas and the fierce battle for admissions. Naturally it isn't straightforward as a simple decision between one or the other – “would you rather see a major tour often, or stay celibate?” – but it might be an indication of what is viewed as the more consistent pleasure.

Unexpected Similarities

Relationships and gigs are closer aligned than one may assume. They both embody the initiation of a bond, a practical trial of impressions or promise that could have built only in your head. You arrive with some idea of what might happen, but expecting to be happily shocked – and whether it proves enjoyable or disappointing relies heavily on whether your energy and anticipations align with others. Regularly you might find with another person's locks in your mouth, and afterwards be hanging out for a cigarette and a moment alone by yourself. And, in both cases, substances and drinks can potentially heighten or detract from the event (but certainly help the most unpleasant experiences simpler to handle).

Seeking Harmony

The magic to concerts and intimacy depends on finding that hard-to-find balance between comfort and excitement, similarity and difference, effort and ease. Of course it happens only rarely – but it’s the memory of successful moments, the understanding that success is achievable, that inspires us to attempt once more: to {