Journey has made a recent change on their setlist, and the guitarist Neal Schon explained why they decided to do so in a new interview with Guitar Player.
The band changed the spot of ‘Don’t Stop Believin” in the setlist from its original place to the last two to three songs.
“I never felt like it was a closer, even though it’s a massive song,” the rocker said of the change. “It’s a slower, melodic rock song with a great melody and a great message, so I felt like, ‘Let’s just be ballsy and stick it out there and play it for them early and keep everybody’s attention. It puts everybody in a great mood.’”
‘Don’t Stop Believin” is among the most popular Journey songs today. However, the band’s record label almost made them cut the song short so it would be more suitable for the radio.
“We decided to stick to our guns. We just said, ‘No. We’re not gonna chop it up. We like the way it sounds,’” the guitarist recalled their reaction to the offer in another interview. “I think because of that they didn’t pour as much money into that song as they would pour into other songs. Chart action is not always because of the song, it’s because there’s the big, giant machine out there – there’s a lot of politics and money involved and all that kind of thing, to be completely frank and honest about it.”
The song went on to become hugely successful, achieving 5x platinum certification in the UK. Looking back, Schon is ‘very grateful’ they took the time needed for the track and stuck to their beliefs.