🔗 Share this article

Envision finding yourself with a free evening. You feel refreshed, open to experience, and hoping to shake up your regular habits of evening scrolling. The world is your oyster! Do you choose a) attending a concert or b) being with a partner? The response, as is often true with such kinds of queries, is plainly: “It depends.” Reasonable people might logically inquire: what is the show? With whom is the partner? Could it be going to be enjoyable?

Few would choose a Limp Bizkit/Slipknot/Korn triple bill if the alternative was a magical night with a favorite star. Yet change either end of the equation, and it turns less clearcut. In the case of the participants asked this question through a major concert promoter, no additional context was given – and the answer emerged unambiguously and overwhelmingly supporting gigs.

Survey Results Reveal Surprising Trends

A global report, questioning 40,000 people aged between 18 and 54 in different nations, revealed that live music are now the world’s top pastime, ranking above sports, films and – yes – sexual intercourse. When limited to one type of activity permanently, a significant portion selected live music, versus watching movies (17%) and sports events (14%). They were also significantly more as likely to prefer watching their top musician in concert (70%) over sexual activity (30%).

You appear hopeful of being happily shocked – and regularly you’ll end up with someone else’s hair in your mouth

Perspectives and Analysis

Naturally it’s not surprising that a PR survey carried out for a gig organizer might conclude so overwhelmingly in favour of live shows – and, with the speculative mood of a hypothetical choice, if your preferred musician is, for example an iconic star, it's understandable why seeing him might win out instead of a ordinary encounter. Yet this either-or decision between live music or sex, plainly ridiculous even if it seems, is noteworthy to reflect on given the odd juncture we experience with these two aspects.

The Change of Live Music Experience

Lately, concert attendance has grown beyond a group event but a serious endeavor. Live organizations duly point out that large venue turnout has “increased threefold each year”, and festivals get booked up more rapidly than previously. Simply getting passes now needs detailed strategy, instant reactions and significant funds (or a substantial budget). Although you succeed, it’s not enough to simply turn up and watch the performance. There’s now an anticipation, especially for pop fans, that you can boost your experience quality by going multiple times (even travelling internationally), swotting up on the performance lineup beforehand and knowing your marks to perform and calls-and-responses created by previous crowds.

Numerous concertgoers describe being scarred by their attendance at large concerts: appearing as a orchestrated show of thousands of people, to which particular fans came unaware of the protocol. The extended event, earning massive sums, showed of the extents that attendees will push to feel part of a historic occasion and see their favourite artist perform, although the real performance grows somewhat secondary to the show.

The State of Modern Intimacy

Sexual activity, on the other hand – a relatively cheap and available enjoyment – is in difficult times. Per contemporary studies, about a quarter of people had sex in an average week, while just under a third were not engaging. In another major country, recent data revealed that a significant portion of people reported not having sexual activity at all in the past year, up from smaller percentages in previous decades. In both territories, the change has been linked to less sexual activity with younger generations. Juxtapose this with the market driving growth for large concerts and the fierce battle for tickets. Naturally it isn't straightforward as a straightforward choice between one or the other – “would you rather see a major tour often, or remain abstinent?” – but it might be an signal of how people see the more consistent pleasure.

Interesting Comparisons

Sex and live music are more comparable than people often believe. They both embody the commencement of a connection, a actual experience of impressions or possibility that could have built solely in your imagination. You arrive with some idea of the probable outcome, but hopeful of being delightfully amazed – and how it ends up good or bad relies heavily on how your vibe and anticipations align with others. Quite often you could wind up with another person's locks in your mouth, and later be hanging out for a cigarette and personal space on your own. Similarly for each, stimulants and beverages can sometimes improve or reduce the situation (but certainly help the most dire situations easier to weather).

Seeking Harmony

The wonder to both gigs and sex hinges on discovering that hard-to-find balance between familiarity and novelty, consistency and change, work and relaxation. Naturally it's uncommon – but it's the remembrance of when it worked, the understanding that success is achievable, that inspires us to give it another shot: to {