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Envision being gifted with a night off. You're feeling rejuvenated, ready for adventure, and wanting to shake up your regular habits of evening scrolling. Your options awaits your choice! Could you opt for a) going to a gig or b) engaging in intimacy? The answer, as typically true with these types of queries, is obviously: “It varies.” Mature individuals could understandably wonder: what is the gig? Who's the partner? Is it expected to be good?

Few would choose a Limp Bizkit/Slipknot/Korn triple bill if the choice was a dream date with a beloved celebrity. But adjust either end of the scenario, and it grows less obvious. Regarding the participants presented with this choice through a live event company, no additional clarification was offered – and the result came out decisively and overwhelmingly in favour of gigs.

Research Findings Reveal Unexpected Trends

An international survey, polling thousands of participants from 18 and 54 in 15 markets, revealed that live music are now the world’s top leisure activity, surpassing games, movies and – indeed – sexual intercourse. Given the choice to a single form of entertainment forever, 39% of respondents picked concerts, versus watching movies (17%) and games (14%). They were also significantly more as likely to prefer watching their top musician on stage (70%) over sexual activity (30%).

You appear anticipating delightfully amazed – and frequently you’ll end up with someone else’s hair in your mouth

Perspectives and Analysis

Naturally it’s not surprising that a PR survey commissioned by a concert promoter would result so strongly preferring concerts – and, with the speculative mood of a would-you-rather, if your favourite artist is, for example Paul McCartney, one can appreciate why seeing him could prevail instead of a ordinary situation. Yet this binary choice between concerts or sex, clearly absurd though it may be, is fascinating to think about amid the peculiar juncture we experience with these two aspects.

The Transformation of Gig Attendance

In recent years, gig-going has grown beyond a shared activity but a intense competition. Live organizations rightly note that arena crowds has “grown significantly year-over-year”, and live events are fully reserved faster than ever. Merely acquiring tickets now needs extensive preparation, quick decision-making and bottomless pockets (or a generous credit card limit). Even if you manage, that alone won't do to merely attend and experience the event. There’s now an expectation, at least among concertgoers, that you might enhance your experience quality by going multiple times (potentially going abroad), studying the set list beforehand and understanding the rituals to follow and calls-and-responses established by earlier audiences.

Numerous fans describe being shaken by their experience at large concerts: what felt like a choreographed performance of huge audiences, to which some individuals arrived not knowing the steps. That 18-month event, generating billions, showed of the degree to which people will go to feel part of a historic occasion and experience their top musician sing, though the actual music grows somewhat secondary to the show.

The Condition of Current Relationships

Intimacy, conversely – an accessible and available enjoyment – faces difficult times. According to recent surveys, about a quarter of individuals had sex in an average week, while about three in ten were not engaging. Elsewhere, modern figures revealed that over a quarter of individuals reported not having intimacy a single time in the previous year, rising from smaller percentages in the past. In both territories, the trend has been attributed to reduced intimacy with younger generations. Juxtapose this with the sector booming for major events and the intense rivalry for tickets. Certainly it’s not as simple as a basic option between either option – “do you prefer attend a huge concert multiple times, or avoid intimacy?” – but it might be an sign of how people see the more dependable satisfaction.

Unexpected Similarities

Sex and live music are closer aligned than one may assume. Each symbolizes the activation of a bond, a actual experience of ideas or potential that might have amassed solely in your imagination. You show up with some idea of the probable outcome, but hopeful of being delightfully amazed – and if it turns out satisfying or frustrating rests largely on how your vibe and hopes align with others. Quite often you could wind up with a stranger's hair in your mouth, and later be lingering for a cigarette and some quiet time alone. And, in both cases, substances and drinks can either enhance or lessen the experience (but absolutely assist the most dire experiences more bearable).

Seeking Harmony

The appeal to both gigs and sex depends on finding that elusive sweet spot between comfort and excitement, consistency and change, work and relaxation. Of course it's uncommon – but it's the remembrance of when they did, the understanding that it can happen, that drives us to give it another shot: to {