🔗 Share this article

Envision having a free evening. You are refreshed, eager for new things, and hoping to change your regular habits of post-work slumping. The world awaits your choice! Could you prefer a) going to a gig or b) engaging in intimacy? The outcome, as typically seen with these sorts of questions, is plainly: “That depends.” Thinking adults may reasonably ask: what's the concert? Who's the companion? Is it expected to be good?

Not many would select a heavy metal lineup if the choice was a magical night with a beloved celebrity. Yet change one side of the comparison, and it becomes less clearcut. Regarding the participants posed this query through a major concert promoter, no additional context was offered – and the answer came out clearly and strongly preferring concerts.

Survey Results Indicate Surprising Preferences

An international study, questioning 40,000 people aged between 18 and 54 in 15 markets, showed that concerts have become the world’s top pastime, beating out athletic events, films and – absolutely – sex. Given the choice to a single form of enjoyment for the rest of their lives, 39% of respondents picked gigs, against watching movies (17%) and sports events (14%). They were also over two times as prone to choose attending their preferred performer live (70%) instead of sexual activity (30%).

You appear anticipating pleasantly surprised – and frequently you might find with someone else’s hair in your mouth

Perspectives and Analysis

Certainly it’s not surprising that a promotional study carried out for a concert promoter would result so overwhelmingly preferring concerts – and, in the freewheeling tone of a hypothetical choice, if your favourite artist is, for example an iconic star, it's understandable why attending his concert might win out over a common or garden experience. Yet this binary choice between gigs or intimacy, plainly ridiculous as it is, is interesting to reflect on given the odd moment we’re at with both.

The Evolution of Concert Culture

Lately, gig-going has evolved into more than a communal experience but a intense competition. Major promoters appropriately highlight that large venue turnout has “grown significantly each year”, and festivals get booked up more rapidly than previously. Simply getting admissions now needs detailed strategy, rapid-fire response times and bottomless pockets (or a substantial budget). Even if you succeed, it’s not enough to simply turn up and experience the event. There’s now an assumption, at least among concertgoers, that you could increase your return on investment by attending more than once (even travelling internationally), learning the song selection ahead of time and memorizing the cues to hit and fan traditions created by past attendees.

Several fans describe being scarred by their participation at major tours: what felt like a choreographed performance of thousands of people, in which particular fans came not knowing the routine. The extended tour, generating billions, was proof of the lengths to which attendees will push to feel part of a cultural moment and see their favourite artist play, though the real performance grows somewhat overshadowed by the spectacle.

The Condition of Current Relationships

Sexual activity, on the other hand – an affordable and common experience – is in challenging circumstances. Based on contemporary studies, approximately 25% of adults engaged sexually in an average week, while just under a third were not engaging. In a different nation, recent data showed that a significant portion of people said they had not intimacy a single time in the last twelve months, rising from fewer people in previous decades. Across these regions, the shift has been associated with reduced intimacy with younger generations. Compare this with the industry driving growth for major events and the intense rivalry for admissions. Naturally it’s not as simple as a basic option between one or the other – “could you choose experience a popular event often, or stay celibate?” – but it’s perhaps an signal of how people see the more consistent satisfaction.

Surprising Parallels

Intimacy and concerts are closer aligned than you might think. Each symbolizes the activation of a bond, a actual experience of ideas or potential that may have developed solely in your imagination. You come with some idea of the probable outcome, but hopeful of being delightfully amazed – and whether it proves enjoyable or disappointing depends very much on if your enthusiasm and expectations match theirs. Regularly you could wind up with another person's locks in your mouth, and afterwards be lingering for a smoke and some quiet time alone. Similarly for each, substances and drinks can either enhance or reduce the experience (but certainly help the worst occasions simpler to handle).

Finding the Balance

The appeal to live events and relationships hinges on discovering that hard-to-find balance between comfort and excitement, similarity and difference, effort and ease. Naturally it's uncommon – but it's the remembrance of when they did, the knowledge that it’s possible, that inspires us to attempt once more: to {