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Imagine finding yourself with a night off. You feel rejuvenated, ready for adventure, and looking to shake up your typical schedule of evening scrolling. Your options offers possibilities! Do you prefer a) attending a concert or b) having sex? The answer, as frequently true with these sorts of hypotheticals, is plainly: “That depends.” Mature individuals might logically wonder: what's the concert? Who is the partner? Will it be expected to be satisfying?

Few would select a Limp Bizkit/Slipknot/Korn triple bill if the alternative was one enchanted evening with a beloved celebrity. Yet change one side of the scenario, and it grows more complicated. Regarding the participants posed this query by a live event company, no further details was provided – and the response emerged clearly and strongly supporting concerts.

Research Findings Reveal Interesting Choices

An international study, questioning thousands of participants from 18 and 54 across different nations, revealed that gigs have become the number one form of entertainment, ranking above sports, movies and – absolutely – sexual intercourse. Given the choice to one type of entertainment forever, 39% of respondents selected concerts, compared to watching movies (17%) and sports events (14%). They were also more than twice as inclined to choose seeing their favourite artist in concert (70%) instead of sexual activity (30%).

You arrive expecting to be pleasantly surprised – and regularly you could wind up with someone else’s hair in your mouth

Context and Considerations

Certainly it's expected that a PR survey commissioned by a gig organizer might conclude so strongly preferring live shows – and, amid the playful tone of a hypothetical choice, if your preferred musician is, for example an iconic star, one can appreciate why watching him might win out rather than a ordinary experience. However this either-or decision between concerts or sexual activity, clearly absurd even if it seems, is interesting to think about considering the strange moment we experience with both.

The Change of Live Music Experience

In recent years, concert attendance has grown beyond a group event but a competitive sport. Major promoters rightly note that large venue turnout has “grown significantly annually”, and live events get booked up quicker than before. Simply getting tickets now needs detailed strategy, quick decision-making and significant funds (or a generous credit card limit). Though you succeed, it’s not enough to simply turn up and experience the event. Nowadays exists an anticipation, especially for concertgoers, that you could increase your return on investment by seeing several shows (even travelling internationally), studying the set list beforehand and knowing your marks to follow and audience interactions developed through past attendees.

Several attendees report feeling shaken by their attendance at popular events: what seemed like a choreographed performance of massive crowds, where particular fans arrived not knowing the protocol. Those lengthy concert series, producing huge revenue, demonstrated of the degree to which fans will travel to feel part of a cultural moment and see their favourite artist sing, though the live sound appears more and more secondary to the production.

The Condition of Current Relationships

Intimacy, by contrast – an accessible and available enjoyment – faces challenging circumstances. Based on modern research, nearly one in four of individuals were intimate in an regular period, while just under a third were abstaining. Elsewhere, current statistics revealed that a significant portion of people said they had not sexual activity at all in the past year, rising from smaller percentages in previous decades. Across these regions, the shift has been linked to reduced intimacy in youth demographics. Compare this with the sector expanding rapidly for major events and the fierce battle for passes. Certainly it isn't straightforward as a straightforward choice between either option – “would you rather see a major tour multiple times, or avoid intimacy?” – but it’s perhaps an indication of how people see the more dependable satisfaction.

Unexpected Similarities

Sex and live music are more similar than people often believe. Both represent the activation of a bond, a practical trial of expectations or promise that might have amassed only in your head. You arrive with a basic expectation of the probable outcome, but anticipating happily shocked – and how it ends up enjoyable or disappointing relies heavily on whether your energy and expectations align with others. Frequently you could wind up with a stranger's hair in your mouth, and afterwards be hanging out for a smoke and some quiet time alone. And, in both cases, stimulants and beverages can either enhance or lessen the event (but definitely make the most dire occasions more bearable).

Achieving Equilibrium

The appeal to live events and relationships hinges on finding that perfect combination between comfort and excitement, consistency and change, challenge and comfort. Of course it happens only rarely – but it's the recollection of when it worked, the awareness that it’s possible, that drives us to try again: to {