An Evening to Remember: Is Attending Gigs Honestly Chosen Over Sex?

Envision finding yourself with a open night. You're feeling energized, open to experience, and hoping to break from your usual routine of post-work slumping. Life itself is your oyster! Do you prefer a) going to a gig or b) being with a partner? The outcome, as is often true with these types of hypotheticals, is plainly: “That depends.” Reasonable people could understandably wonder: what is the show? With whom is the other person? Will it be expected to be enjoyable?

Not many would select a heavy metal lineup if the choice was one enchanted evening with Jonathan Bailey. However tweak any part of the scenario, and it grows more complicated. In the case of the thousands surveyed asked this question by a major concert promoter, no additional context was offered – and the result came out unambiguously and strongly preferring concerts.

Research Findings Indicate Surprising Preferences

An international study, polling a large sample aged between 18 and 54 in different nations, revealed that live music have become the number one form of entertainment, surpassing athletic events, movies and – yes – sexual intercourse. When limited to one type of activity permanently, nearly four in ten picked live music, versus film attendance (17%) and sports events (14%). They were also significantly more as likely to prefer watching their top musician in concert (70%) instead of intimacy (30%).

You appear expecting to be delightfully amazed – and frequently you’ll end up with a stranger's hair in your mouth

Context and Considerations

Certainly it's expected that a PR survey carried out for a concert promoter should come out so strongly preferring concerts – and, in the freewheeling tone of a would-you-rather, if your preferred musician is, for example Paul McCartney, you can see why watching him may be chosen instead of a ordinary experience. Yet this either-or decision between concerts or sex, plainly ridiculous though it may be, is fascinating to think about amid the peculiar moment we experience with each.

The Evolution of Live Music Experience

Over the past few years, concert attendance has become not just a shared activity but a intense competition. Live organizations duly point out that arena crowds has “tripled year-over-year”, and music festivals are fully reserved quicker than before. Simply getting passes now needs military-level planning, quick decision-making and bottomless pockets (or a high spending capacity). Though you’re successful, it isn't sufficient to simply turn up and experience the event. Nowadays exists an assumption, particularly with pop fans, that you could increase your enjoyment value by attending more than once (even travelling internationally), swotting up on the performance lineup ahead of time and understanding the rituals to perform and fan traditions created by past attendees.

Numerous fans report feeling scarred by their attendance at major tours: what felt like a scripted production of huge audiences, to which particular fans arrived not knowing the routine. The extended event, generating billions, demonstrated of the degree to which people will go to feel part of a historic occasion and experience their top musician play, though the real performance appears more and more less important than the spectacle.

The Situation of Contemporary Sexuality

Sexual activity, conversely – an affordable and common experience – is in dire straits. According to recent surveys, nearly one in four of people had sex in an typical week, while nearly 30% were sexually inactive. In another major country, recent data revealed that over a quarter of adults reported not having intimacy a single time in the last twelve months, rising from smaller percentages in earlier years. In both territories, the shift has been attributed to decreased encounters with younger generations. Compare this with the sector booming for large concerts and the intense rivalry for tickets. Naturally it isn't straightforward as a straightforward choice between either option – “could you choose see a major tour repeatedly, or remain abstinent?” – but it's possibly an signal of which is perceived as the more dependable enjoyment.

Surprising Parallels

Sex and live music are more similar than you might think. Both represent the initiation of a bond, a actual experience of impressions or promise that may have developed just in your mind. You arrive with a basic expectation of how it’s likely to go, but hopeful of being delightfully amazed – and how it ends up good or bad rests largely on if your enthusiasm and hopes align with others. Quite often you might find with a stranger's hair in your mouth, and afterwards be waiting around for a break and a moment alone on your own. And, in both cases, stimulants and beverages can sometimes improve or lessen the event (but certainly help the most unpleasant experiences easier to weather).

Achieving Equilibrium

The magic to both gigs and sex depends on discovering that perfect combination between comfort and excitement, similarity and difference, challenge and comfort. Certainly it's uncommon – but it’s the memory of when it worked, the understanding that it’s possible, that inspires us to try again: to {