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Picture being gifted with a free evening. You're feeling refreshed, ready for adventure, and wanting to shake up your typical schedule of evening scrolling. The world awaits your choice! Could you choose a) going to a gig or b) having sex? The response, as frequently seen with these types of queries, is obviously: “It varies.” Thinking adults may reasonably ask: what kind of the concert? Who's the partner? Is it expected to be satisfying?

Few would pick a intense rock concert if the alternative was one enchanted evening with a beloved celebrity. But adjust any part of the equation, and it turns less clearcut. Regarding the participants posed this query through a major concert promoter, no such clarification was given – and the result came out unambiguously and overwhelmingly in favour of live music events.

Study Data Indicate Surprising Trends

An international survey, polling thousands of participants aged between 18 and 54 from different nations, found that live music are now the most popular pastime, surpassing sports, films and – yes – intimacy. If restricted to a single form of activity permanently, nearly four in ten selected concerts, compared to film attendance (17%) and games (14%). They were also over two times as inclined to prefer seeing their favourite artist on stage (70%) over intimacy (30%).

You arrive hopeful of being happily shocked – and frequently you could wind up with a stranger's hair in your mouth

Factors and Reflections

Of course it makes sense that a promotional study commissioned by a concert promoter should come out so strongly in favour of concerts – and, with the speculative mood of a would-you-rather, if your preferred musician is, such as a legendary singer, you can see why attending his concert may be chosen over a routine encounter. But this two-option scenario between live music or sex, obviously silly as it is, is interesting to think about amid the peculiar juncture we face with these two aspects.

The Transformation of Concert Culture

In recent years, live music participation has become not just a communal experience but a intense competition. Event companies duly point out that stadium attendance has “increased threefold annually”, and live events get booked up more rapidly than previously. Just obtaining tickets now requires military-level planning, instant reactions and bottomless pockets (or a substantial budget). Although you manage, that alone won't do to just show up and enjoy the show. There’s now an expectation, especially for pop fans, that you can boost your return on investment by seeing several shows (including overseas trips), studying the song selection in advance and knowing your marks to perform and calls-and-responses created by previous crowds.

Several attendees admit to scarred by their participation at major tours: what seemed like a choreographed performance of huge audiences, in which some individuals came unfamiliar with the protocol. Those lengthy event, earning massive sums, was proof of the extents that people will go to feel part of a cultural moment and see their favourite artist sing, though the actual music grows somewhat less important than the spectacle.

The Condition of Current Relationships

Intimacy, by contrast – a relatively cheap and available enjoyment – is in difficult times. Per contemporary studies, about a quarter of people had sex in an regular period, while just under a third were sexually inactive. In a different nation, modern figures revealed that a significant portion of adults reported not having intimacy a single time in the previous year, increasing from smaller percentages in earlier years. In these areas, the shift has been attributed to reduced intimacy among younger people. Juxtapose this with the industry expanding rapidly for stadium extravaganzas and the intense rivalry for passes. Of course it's more complicated as a straightforward choice between both alternatives – “could you choose experience a popular event often, or stay celibate?” – but it's possibly an signal of what is viewed as the more consistent pleasure.

Unexpected Similarities

Intimacy and concerts are more similar than one may assume. Each symbolizes the commencement of a connection, a real-world test of impressions or potential that may have developed solely in your imagination. You arrive with some idea of what might happen, but expecting to be delightfully amazed – and how it ends up enjoyable or disappointing relies heavily on how your vibe and anticipations match theirs. Frequently you might find with someone else’s hair in your mouth, and later be lingering for a cigarette and some quiet time by yourself. And, in both cases, stimulants and beverages can either enhance or lessen the event (but certainly help the most dire occasions easier to weather).

Seeking Harmony

The wonder to both gigs and sex hinges on discovering that hard-to-find balance between the known and the new, consistency and change, work and relaxation. Certainly it's uncommon – but it's the recollection of when it worked, the understanding that success is achievable, that drives us to try again: to {