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Imagine being gifted with a open night. You're feeling refreshed, eager for new things, and wanting to break from your typical schedule of evening scrolling. Life itself offers possibilities! Would you opt for a) going to a gig or b) having sex? The response, as typically seen with these types of questions, is plainly: “It varies.” Reasonable people could understandably inquire: what's the concert? With whom is the companion? Is it going to be satisfying?

Not many would select a heavy metal lineup if the choice was a magical night with a beloved celebrity. However tweak one side of the comparison, and it becomes less obvious. For the 40,000 people asked this question from a major concert promoter, no additional clarification was provided – and the result came out decisively and overwhelmingly in favour of concerts.

Study Data Reveal Unexpected Preferences

A worldwide report, interviewing thousands of participants from 18 and 54 from 15 markets, showed that gigs currently stand as the number one form of entertainment, surpassing games, cinema and – indeed – intimacy. Given the choice to one type of enjoyment for the rest of their lives, 39% of respondents picked concerts, compared to going to the cinema (17%) and sports events (14%). The group was significantly more as prone to choose seeing their favourite artist in concert (70%) instead of sex (30%).

You show up anticipating delightfully amazed – and quite often you could wind up with someone else’s hair in your mouth

Context and Considerations

Certainly it’s not surprising that a promotional study carried out for a concert promoter might conclude so overwhelmingly supporting concerts – and, in the freewheeling tone of a would-you-rather, if your preferred musician is, say Paul McCartney, one can appreciate why watching him could prevail over a ordinary experience. Yet this two-option scenario between live music or sex, clearly absurd though it may be, is interesting to think about amid the peculiar point we experience with these two aspects.

The Change of Gig Attendance

Lately, live music participation has grown beyond a group event but a intense competition. Live organizations duly point out that arena crowds has “grown significantly annually”, and festivals get booked up more rapidly than previously. Just obtaining tickets now needs military-level planning, instant reactions and deep finances (or a high spending capacity). Although you succeed, that alone won't do to merely attend and experience the event. Nowadays exists an expectation, especially for music enthusiasts, that you might enhance your enjoyment value by attending more than once (even travelling internationally), swotting up on the performance lineup beforehand and understanding the rituals to hit and calls-and-responses developed through earlier audiences.

Several concertgoers describe being shaken by their experience at large concerts: appearing as a orchestrated show of huge audiences, to which some individuals turned up not knowing the routine. Those lengthy tour, generating billions, demonstrated of the degree to which people will go to participate in a cultural moment and watch their preferred performer perform, although the live sound seems increasingly less important than the show.

The Situation of Current Relationships

Intimacy, on the other hand – a relatively cheap and accessible pleasure – is in challenging circumstances. Per modern research, nearly one in four of adults engaged sexually in an regular period, while nearly 30% were abstaining. Elsewhere, current statistics revealed that over a quarter of people reported not having intimacy a single time in the past year, increasing from fewer people in previous decades. In both territories, the change has been associated with decreased encounters among younger people. Contrast this with the industry driving growth for large concerts and the fierce battle for admissions. Certainly it’s not as simple as a straightforward choice between either option – “could you choose attend a huge concert often, or stay celibate?” – but it’s perhaps an signal of which is perceived as the more consistent enjoyment.

Surprising Parallels

Sex and live music are more similar than people often believe. Both represent the activation of a connection, a practical trial of expectations or potential that might have amassed just in your mind. You come with a general notion of what might happen, but hopeful of being delightfully amazed – and if it turns out good or bad depends very much on if your enthusiasm and hopes correspond with partners. Quite often you might find with someone else’s hair in your mouth, and following be hanging out for a break and personal space on your own. And, in both cases, substances and drinks can potentially heighten or reduce the experience (but absolutely assist the worst situations easier to weather).

Achieving Equilibrium

The magic to concerts and intimacy depends on locating that perfect combination between familiarity and novelty, sameness and variation, work and relaxation. Certainly it happens only rarely – but it’s the memory of when they did, the knowledge that success is achievable, that motivates us to attempt once more: to {