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Imagine having a free evening. You're feeling refreshed, ready for adventure, and looking to shake up your typical schedule of relaxing at home. Your options is your oyster! Do you opt for a) going to a gig or b) being with a partner? The outcome, as typically true with these types of queries, is plainly: “That depends.” Thinking adults might logically inquire: what's the concert? Who is the companion? Could it be expected to be enjoyable?

Not many would choose a heavy metal lineup if the choice was a dream date with a beloved celebrity. However tweak either end of the equation, and it turns less clearcut. In the case of the participants asked this question through a live event company, no further context was offered – and the answer came out unambiguously and strongly supporting gigs.

Study Data Reveal Unexpected Trends

A worldwide report, polling 40,000 people from 18 and 54 from different nations, found that live music currently stand as the world’s top pastime, beating out sports, films and – absolutely – sexual intercourse. Given the choice to a single form of enjoyment for the rest of their lives, a significant portion chose gigs, compared to film attendance (17%) and athletic competitions (14%). Participants were significantly more as likely to select attending their preferred performer in concert (70%) instead of intimacy (30%).

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

Factors and Reflections

Of course it makes sense that a marketing research conducted for a concert promoter might conclude so overwhelmingly in favour of gigs – and, in the freewheeling tone of a either-or question, if your top performer is, say a legendary singer, one can appreciate why seeing him could prevail over a common or garden situation. But this two-option scenario between concerts or intimacy, clearly absurd though it may be, is interesting to consider considering the strange point we experience with each.

The Transformation of Concert Culture

Over the past few years, gig-going has grown beyond a communal experience but a serious endeavor. Live organizations appropriately highlight that stadium attendance has “increased threefold annually”, and music festivals are fully reserved faster than ever. Simply getting tickets now requires extensive preparation, instant reactions and bottomless pockets (or a high spending capacity). Though you succeed, it’s not enough to just show up and experience the event. Currently there is an expectation, at least among music enthusiasts, that you could increase your enjoyment value by attending more than once (including overseas trips), learning the set list in advance and knowing your marks to follow and calls-and-responses created by past attendees.

Several attendees report feeling affected by their participation at large concerts: appearing as a scripted production of thousands of people, in which certain attendees arrived unaware of the routine. That 18-month event, producing huge revenue, showed of the degree to which people will go to experience a cultural moment and experience their top musician sing, though the live sound grows somewhat overshadowed by the production.

The Situation of Current Relationships

Sexual activity, by contrast – an accessible and available enjoyment – faces challenging circumstances. According to modern research, about a quarter of individuals engaged sexually in an average week, while about three in ten were not engaging. In another major country, modern figures revealed that a significant portion of adults said they had not intimacy a single time in the past year, up from fewer people in earlier years. Across these regions, the trend has been attributed to decreased encounters among younger people. Juxtapose this with the industry driving growth for large concerts and the intense rivalry for admissions. Certainly it’s not as simple as a basic option between one or the other – “could you choose experience a popular event often, or avoid intimacy?” – but it might be an indication of how people see the more dependable pleasure.

Interesting Comparisons

Relationships and gigs are more similar than one may assume. Each symbolizes the commencement of a bond, a actual experience of expectations or promise that may have developed solely in your imagination. You show up with a general notion of how it’s likely to go, but anticipating happily shocked – and how it ends up good or bad depends very much on how your vibe and anticipations match theirs. Quite often you might find with another person's locks in your mouth, and following be lingering for a break and personal space by yourself. And, in both cases, stimulants and beverages can either enhance or lessen the situation (but absolutely assist the worst experiences simpler to handle).

Achieving Equilibrium

The appeal to concerts and intimacy depends on locating that hard-to-find balance between comfort and excitement, sameness and variation, challenge and comfort. Certainly it happens only rarely – but it's the remembrance of when it worked, the awareness that it’s possible, that inspires us to attempt once more: to {