For the first time in memory, Summerfest won't stand Pat in 2008.

Or, to be more precise about the situation, Pat McCurdy won't stand for the treatment he has received the past two years at the Big Gig.

Either way you look at it, the result is the same.

McCurdy, who has been a mainstay for more than a decade at the "World's Largest Music Festival," will not perform during Summerfest's 11-day run beginning June 26 at the Henry Maier Festival Grounds.

In a newsletter to fans this month, McCurdy detailed some scheduling problems and referred to his "resignation" from Summerfest. Bob Babisch, the entertainment director of the festival, prefers to think of it as a one-year hiatus.

"Things just didn't work out this year," Babisch said Tuesday. "Pat is a talented guy and he deserves to be in a different time slot. We just didn't have one available this year. Next year, hopefully, it will work out."

Where he used to block out most of the 11-day period for Summerfest, McCurdy will be playing regular club shows in Chicago and Madison and filling in other dates with private parties, a wedding and other festivals.

"It's going to be strange, that's for sure," McCurdy said while traveling to a show Tuesday night in Madison. "I was really bummed about it for awhile. Two weeks ago, I started to think about it and it bummed me out.

"Then, I remembered what happened last year and the year before. In a way, it was kind of inevitable."

What happened last year? Basically, it was a matter of timing.

"We had five shows scheduled last year and at three of them, the band performing after Pat started setting up behind him like he wasn't even there," said Brian Murphy, McCurdy's manager.

"Pat has done everything Summerfest has asked of him over the years, so it was pretty frustrating."

For the McCurdy camp, the frustration peaked before a performance by country act Big & Rich at the Harley-Davidson Roadhouse. McCurdy was slated to perform a 45-minute set before Big & Rich, whose set was recorded for presentation on Country Music Television.

"Pat was three songs into his set, people were getting into it and they told us we had to get him off the stage," Murphy said. "They started mopping the floor right next to him."

McCurdy said the incident was "awful," but did not blame Summerfest officials.

"It wasn't Summerfest's fault," he said. "(The CMT crew) cut me off and Big & Rich didn't go on for another hour and a half. When I was done, a couple came up to me and said they had flown in from Texas to see me play for 13 minutes. I felt bad about that."

At that point, McCurdy began to think about his standing at the festival.

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