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Envision being gifted with a free evening. You're feeling energized, eager for new things, and looking to shake up your typical schedule of relaxing at home. Life itself offers possibilities! Would you prefer a) attending a concert or b) having sex? The answer, as frequently seen with such kinds of queries, is plainly: “It varies.” Reasonable people may reasonably wonder: what kind of the gig? Who is the partner? Will it be expected to be enjoyable?

Hardly anyone would select a Limp Bizkit/Slipknot/Korn triple bill if the choice was one enchanted evening with a favorite star. But adjust one side of the comparison, and it becomes more complicated. Regarding the 40,000 people posed this query from a live event company, no further clarification was provided – and the answer was revealed unambiguously and overwhelmingly supporting concerts.

Survey Results Show Surprising Preferences

A global study, polling a large sample ranging from 18 and 54 in different nations, found that concerts currently stand as the world’s top form of entertainment, ranking above athletic events, cinema and – indeed – sexual intercourse. Given the choice to one type of entertainment for the rest of their lives, nearly four in ten chose concerts, versus watching movies (17%) and sports events (14%). The group was significantly more as prone to select watching their top musician in concert (70%) rather than intimacy (30%).

You arrive anticipating pleasantly surprised – and quite often you might find with someone else’s hair in your mouth

Factors and Reflections

Of course it makes sense that a promotional study commissioned by a live event company would result so strongly preferring live shows – and, amid the playful mood of a hypothetical choice, if your preferred musician is, for example a legendary singer, one can appreciate why watching him might win out instead of a common or garden experience. Yet this either-or decision between gigs or sex, plainly ridiculous though it may be, is interesting to consider considering the strange point we face with these two aspects.

The Change of Gig Attendance

In recent years, gig-going has become not just a group event but a serious endeavor. Event companies rightly note that arena crowds has “increased threefold each year”, and music festivals get booked up quicker than before. Simply getting tickets now needs military-level planning, instant reactions and bottomless pockets (or a generous credit card limit). Although you manage, it isn't sufficient to just show up and enjoy the show. Nowadays exists an anticipation, at least among pop fans, that you might enhance your enjoyment value by going multiple times (even travelling internationally), studying the set list ahead of time and memorizing the cues to follow and audience interactions created by past attendees.

Many concertgoers admit to affected by their attendance at major tours: appearing as a orchestrated show of massive crowds, in which particular fans turned up unaware of the protocol. The extended tour, earning massive sums, was proof of the degree to which attendees will push to participate in a cultural moment and watch their preferred performer sing, although the actual music appears more and more overshadowed by the production.

The State of Current Relationships

Sexual activity, conversely – an affordable and accessible pleasure – is in challenging circumstances. Per modern research, about a quarter of people had sex in an regular period, while nearly 30% were abstaining. Elsewhere, recent data showed that a significant portion of people admitted to avoiding intimacy even once in the past year, increasing from lower numbers in the past. Across these regions, the trend has been associated with less sexual activity with younger generations. Juxtapose this with the sector driving growth for large concerts and the cutthroat competition for passes. Naturally it isn't straightforward as a straightforward choice between one or the other – “could you choose attend a huge concert multiple times, or avoid intimacy?” – but it's possibly an sign of which is perceived as the more reliable enjoyment.

Surprising Parallels

Relationships and gigs are more similar than you might think. Both represent the activation of a bond, a practical trial of expectations or potential that might have amassed solely in your imagination. You show up with a basic expectation of how it’s likely to go, but hopeful of being pleasantly surprised – and if it turns out good or bad depends very much on if your enthusiasm and hopes correspond with partners. Regularly you might find with someone else’s hair in your mouth, and afterwards be hanging out for a smoke and a moment alone alone. Similarly for each, stimulants and beverages can sometimes improve or detract from the situation (but certainly help the most dire experiences more bearable).

Achieving Equilibrium

The magic to live events and relationships relies on discovering that elusive sweet spot between the known and the new, sameness and variation, effort and ease. Of course it happens only rarely – but it's the recollection of when they did, the understanding that it can happen, that motivates us to try again: to {