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Picture having a open night. You feel rejuvenated, ready for adventure, and looking to break from your usual routine of relaxing at home. The world offers possibilities! Do you opt for a) seeing live music or b) being with a partner? The response, as typically true with these types of queries, is clearly: “It depends.” Thinking adults might logically inquire: what's the concert? Who is the partner? Is it expected to be good?

Few would select a heavy metal lineup if the choice was one enchanted evening with Jonathan Bailey. Yet change either end of the scenario, and it turns more complicated. In the case of the 40,000 people asked this question by a gig organization, no further clarification was offered – and the answer emerged clearly and strongly preferring gigs.

Survey Results Indicate Unexpected Choices

An international study, interviewing thousands of participants ranging from 18 and 54 across different nations, showed that gigs are now the world’s top form of entertainment, beating out sports, films and – indeed – intimacy. Given the choice to a single form of activity forever, a significant portion selected live music, versus watching movies (17%) and athletic competitions (14%). They were also more than twice as likely to prefer watching their top musician on stage (70%) instead of sexual activity (30%).

You arrive expecting to be happily shocked – and frequently you could wind up with a stranger's hair in your mouth

Context and Considerations

Certainly it’s not surprising that a PR survey carried out for a gig organizer would result so strongly in favour of concerts – and, in the freewheeling tone of a would-you-rather, if your top performer is, say an iconic star, one can appreciate why attending his concert might win out rather than a ordinary encounter. However this binary choice between concerts or intimacy, plainly ridiculous even if it seems, is fascinating to reflect on considering the strange point we face with these two aspects.

The Change of Live Music Experience

In recent years, live music participation has become not just a shared activity but a competitive sport. Event companies duly point out that arena crowds has “increased threefold each year”, and music festivals sell out more rapidly than previously. Just obtaining admissions now demands extensive preparation, rapid-fire response times and bottomless pockets (or a high spending capacity). Though you succeed, it isn't sufficient to just show up and watch the performance. Nowadays exists an assumption, at least among concertgoers, that you can boost your enjoyment value by attending more than once (even travelling internationally), learning the performance lineup beforehand and understanding the rituals to perform and calls-and-responses developed through past attendees.

Many fans describe being shaken by their attendance at major tours: appearing as a orchestrated show of massive crowds, where certain attendees arrived unaware of the routine. The extended concert series, producing huge revenue, showed of the lengths to which fans will travel to feel part of a historic occasion and see their favourite artist play, although the live sound appears more and more less important than the production.

The Condition of Current Relationships

Intimacy, by contrast – an accessible and available enjoyment – experiences challenging circumstances. According to contemporary studies, approximately 25% of individuals engaged sexually in an typical week, while nearly 30% were sexually inactive. In a different nation, modern figures revealed that a significant portion of adults admitted to avoiding intimacy at all in the past year, up from lower numbers in earlier years. In both territories, the shift has been associated with less sexual activity with younger generations. Compare this with the sector driving growth for stadium extravaganzas and the fierce battle for admissions. Of course it’s not as simple as a basic option between either option – “would you rather see a major tour multiple times, or remain abstinent?” – but it's possibly an sign of how people see the more dependable satisfaction.

Interesting Comparisons

Sex and live music are more similar than people often believe. Both represent the commencement of a connection, a real-world test of ideas or promise that may have developed just in your mind. You arrive with some idea of the probable outcome, but hopeful of being happily shocked – and whether it proves satisfying or frustrating relies heavily on how your vibe and hopes correspond with partners. Frequently you could wind up with someone else’s hair in your mouth, and afterwards be lingering for a break and a moment alone on your own. Likewise with either, stimulants and beverages can sometimes improve or lessen the event (but absolutely assist the most dire situations easier to weather).

Achieving Equilibrium

The wonder to live events and relationships depends on locating that hard-to-find balance between familiarity and novelty, consistency and change, challenge and comfort. Certainly it's uncommon – but it's the remembrance of successful moments, the understanding that success is achievable, that drives us to attempt once more: to {