🔗 Share this article

Envision finding yourself with a night off. You are refreshed, ready for adventure, and hoping to change your typical schedule of evening scrolling. Life itself awaits your choice! Could you choose a) seeing live music or b) being with a partner? The outcome, as is often the case with these types of hypotheticals, is clearly: “That depends.” Thinking adults could understandably wonder: what's the gig? Who's the companion? Is it likely to be good?

Hardly anyone would select a intense rock concert if the alternative was a dream date with Jonathan Bailey. But adjust any part of the equation, and it turns less clearcut. In the case of the thousands surveyed asked this question by a gig organization, no further clarification was offered – and the response was revealed clearly and heavily preferring concerts.

Study Data Indicate Unexpected Trends

A global study, polling 40,000 people aged between 18 and 54 across multiple countries, revealed that live music currently stand as the most popular pastime, beating out games, films and – absolutely – sex. When limited to only one option of entertainment for the rest of their lives, a significant portion picked gigs, against going to the cinema (17%) and athletic competitions (14%). Participants were significantly more as likely to prefer seeing their favourite artist live (70%) rather than sex (30%).

You appear hopeful of being pleasantly surprised – and quite often you could wind up with a stranger's hair in your mouth

Context and Considerations

Of course it's expected that a marketing research commissioned by a concert promoter would result so strongly in favour of gigs – and, in the freewheeling tone of a would-you-rather, if your preferred musician is, say a legendary singer, one can appreciate why seeing him might win out rather than a common or garden encounter. But this binary choice between live music or intimacy, obviously silly even if it seems, is noteworthy to consider amid the peculiar moment we’re at with each.

The Evolution of Concert Culture

Over the past few years, gig-going has evolved into more than a group event but a serious endeavor. Event companies duly point out that large venue turnout has “tripled each year”, and music festivals are fully reserved faster than ever. Simply getting tickets now requires extensive preparation, rapid-fire response times and deep finances (or a substantial budget). Even if you succeed, it’s not enough to merely attend and watch the performance. There’s now an assumption, particularly with concertgoers, that you could increase your return on investment by attending more than once (potentially going abroad), learning the song selection in advance and knowing your marks to follow and fan traditions created by past attendees.

Several attendees report feeling affected by their attendance at major tours: what seemed like a scripted production of huge audiences, in which some individuals came not knowing the routine. The extended event, earning massive sums, showed of the lengths to which people will go to feel part of a cultural moment and watch their preferred performer perform, though the real performance grows somewhat secondary to the spectacle.

The Situation of Contemporary Sexuality

Sex, by contrast – a relatively cheap and common experience – faces challenging circumstances. Based on modern research, approximately 25% of individuals were intimate in an regular period, while about three in ten were abstaining. In another major country, modern figures revealed that a significant portion of individuals admitted to avoiding sex a single time in the previous year, up from smaller percentages in previous decades. In these areas, the trend has been associated with decreased encounters among younger people. Juxtapose this with the market booming for stadium extravaganzas and the fierce battle for tickets. Naturally it's more complicated as a basic option between one or the other – “do you prefer attend a huge concert multiple times, or remain abstinent?” – but it’s perhaps an sign of which is perceived as the more reliable pleasure.

Unexpected Similarities

Intimacy and concerts are more similar than people often believe. Each symbolizes the commencement of a connection, a actual experience of impressions or potential that could have built just in your mind. You show up with a general notion of how it’s likely to go, but anticipating happily shocked – and how it ends up enjoyable or disappointing depends very much on whether your energy and anticipations align with others. Quite often you might find with a stranger's hair in your mouth, and following be waiting around for a cigarette and some quiet time on your own. Likewise with either, stimulants and beverages can either enhance or lessen the event (but certainly help the worst occasions simpler to handle).

Achieving Equilibrium

The wonder to both gigs and sex depends on locating that perfect combination between comfort and excitement, sameness and variation, challenge and comfort. Naturally it occurs infrequently – but it’s the memory of successful moments, the understanding that it’s possible, that inspires us to attempt once more: to {