An Evening to Cherish: Is Attending Gigs Really Chosen Over Sex?
Envision having a night off. You are rejuvenated, eager for new things, and hoping to break from your typical schedule of post-work slumping. Life itself awaits your choice! Do you choose a) seeing live music or b) having sex? The answer, as typically the case with such kinds of questions, is plainly: “It depends.” Thinking adults might logically wonder: what's the gig? Who's the other person? Will it be likely to be enjoyable?
Few would select a intense rock concert if the alternative was a magical night with a beloved celebrity. Yet change one side of the equation, and it grows less obvious. For the participants presented with this choice from a gig organization, no such clarification was offered – and the result was revealed unambiguously and overwhelmingly supporting gigs.
Survey Results Reveal Interesting Preferences
A worldwide report, questioning a large sample aged between 18 and 54 from multiple countries, revealed that gigs are now the most popular leisure activity, ranking above sports, films and – indeed – sexual intercourse. Given the choice to one type of activity permanently, nearly four in ten selected gigs, compared to film attendance (17%) and athletic competitions (14%). Participants were more than twice as inclined to prefer watching their top musician in concert (70%) over sexual activity (30%).
You appear hopeful of being pleasantly surprised – and quite often you might find with a stranger's hair in your mouth
Context and Considerations
Certainly it's expected that a PR survey commissioned by a live event company might conclude so heavily supporting gigs – and, with the speculative tone of a would-you-rather, if your top performer is, such as Paul McCartney, one can appreciate why attending his concert could prevail instead of a ordinary experience. Yet this two-option scenario between live music or sexual activity, clearly absurd as it is, is interesting to reflect on amid the peculiar point we’re at with these two aspects.
The Change of Live Music Experience
Over the past few years, live music participation has evolved into more than a group event but a intense competition. Live organizations duly point out that stadium attendance has “increased threefold annually”, and live events get booked up quicker than before. Merely acquiring tickets now requires military-level planning, rapid-fire response times and deep finances (or a substantial budget). Although you’re successful, that alone won't do to simply turn up and watch the performance. There’s now an anticipation, at least among pop fans, that you could increase your return on investment by attending more than once (even travelling internationally), swotting up on the song selection ahead of time and memorizing the cues to follow and calls-and-responses created by past attendees.
Several attendees admit to affected by their participation at large concerts: what seemed like a scripted production of huge audiences, to which certain attendees turned up not knowing the steps. The extended concert series, generating billions, showed of the degree to which fans will travel to participate in a significant event and watch their preferred performer sing, even if the live sound appears more and more less important than the show.
The State of Modern Intimacy
Sexual activity, on the other hand – a relatively cheap and accessible pleasure – is in difficult times. Per modern research, approximately 25% of people had sex in an regular period, while about three in ten were abstaining. Elsewhere, current statistics indicated that more than 25% of people admitted to avoiding sexual activity even once in the previous year, increasing from lower numbers in the past. In both territories, the shift has been linked to less sexual activity among younger people. Juxtapose this with the sector driving growth for stadium extravaganzas and the fierce battle for tickets. Naturally it's more complicated as a simple decision between one or the other – “do you prefer see a major tour multiple times, or remain abstinent?” – but it’s perhaps an indication of what is viewed as the more dependable satisfaction.
Unexpected Similarities
Intimacy and concerts are more comparable than you might think. Both represent the initiation of a bond, a actual experience of expectations or possibility that could have built just in your mind. You show up with a general notion of how it’s likely to go, but hopeful of being pleasantly surprised – and if it turns out good or bad relies heavily on whether your energy and anticipations correspond with partners. Quite often you’ll end up with a stranger's hair in your mouth, and afterwards be hanging out for a cigarette and a moment alone on your own. And, in both cases, drugs and alcohol can either enhance or detract from the experience (but certainly help the most dire experiences simpler to handle).
Seeking Harmony
The wonder to live events and relationships relies on finding that hard-to-find balance between the known and the new, similarity and difference, work and relaxation. Naturally it happens only rarely – but it's the recollection of successful moments, the knowledge that it’s possible, that drives us to give it another shot: to {
