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Envision being gifted with a night off. You're feeling rejuvenated, ready for adventure, and wanting to break from your regular habits of post-work slumping. Life itself is your oyster! Would you opt for a) going to a gig or b) engaging in intimacy? The answer, as typically true with these types of questions, is clearly: “It varies.” Thinking adults could understandably inquire: what kind of the concert? With whom is the partner? Could it be expected to be satisfying?

Not many would choose a heavy metal lineup if the alternative was a dream date with a favorite star. However tweak either end of the comparison, and it becomes more complicated. Regarding the participants asked this question through a gig organization, no additional context was given – and the result was revealed clearly and overwhelmingly in favour of gigs.

Research Findings Indicate Surprising Preferences

An international study, polling thousands of participants from 18 and 54 across different nations, found that concerts have become the most popular leisure activity, surpassing games, cinema and – indeed – intimacy. When limited to one type of enjoyment forever, a significant portion chose concerts, versus going to the cinema (17%) and games (14%). They were also over two times as inclined to prefer seeing their favourite artist live (70%) rather than intimacy (30%).

You show up hopeful of being delightfully amazed – and frequently you’ll end up with a stranger's hair in your mouth

Context and Considerations

Naturally it's expected that a PR survey conducted for a gig organizer would result so strongly supporting gigs – and, amid the playful tone of a hypothetical choice, if your favourite artist is, such as Paul McCartney, it's understandable why watching him may be chosen instead of a ordinary encounter. However this either-or decision between live music or intimacy, clearly absurd though it may be, is interesting to think about amid the peculiar juncture we’re at with each.

The Change of Live Music Experience

Over the past few years, live music participation has evolved into more than a shared activity but a serious endeavor. Major promoters appropriately highlight that arena crowds has “increased threefold annually”, and live events get booked up quicker than before. Simply getting tickets now needs extensive preparation, quick decision-making and significant funds (or a high spending capacity). Although you’re successful, it’s not enough to just show up and experience the event. Nowadays exists an expectation, at least among music enthusiasts, that you can boost your enjoyment value by seeing several shows (including overseas trips), swotting up on the performance lineup in advance and memorizing the cues to follow and fan traditions created by previous crowds.

Many fans report feeling scarred by their experience at popular events: what felt like a scripted production of massive crowds, in which certain attendees came unaware of the steps. The extended concert series, producing huge revenue, was proof of the lengths to which fans will travel to feel part of a cultural moment and experience their top musician perform, although the real performance seems increasingly secondary to the show.

The State of Contemporary Sexuality

Intimacy, by contrast – a relatively cheap and common experience – experiences challenging circumstances. Per recent surveys, nearly one in four of adults engaged sexually in an average week, while nearly 30% were abstaining. In another major country, recent data indicated that more than 25% of adults said they had not intimacy even once in the previous year, increasing from smaller percentages in earlier years. Across these regions, the trend has been associated with less sexual activity among younger people. Juxtapose this with the sector driving growth for large concerts and the intense rivalry for passes. Certainly it's more complicated as a simple decision between both alternatives – “could you choose experience a popular event multiple times, or remain abstinent?” – but it might be an signal of which is perceived as the more dependable satisfaction.

Unexpected Similarities

Intimacy and concerts are closer aligned than people often believe. Each symbolizes the activation of a connection, a real-world test of ideas or possibility that may have developed just in your mind. You show up with some idea of the probable outcome, but anticipating pleasantly surprised – and whether it proves good or bad rests largely on if your enthusiasm and expectations correspond with partners. Regularly you’ll end up with a stranger's hair in your mouth, and afterwards be hanging out for a smoke and some quiet time alone. Likewise with either, drugs and alcohol can either enhance or lessen the event (but absolutely assist the most dire occasions easier to weather).

Finding the Balance

The wonder to both gigs and sex depends on discovering that elusive sweet spot between familiarity and novelty, similarity and difference, challenge and comfort. Of course it happens only rarely – but it's the recollection of successful moments, the understanding that it can happen, that drives us to try again: to {