Beware of Robbie Boland the conman (Robbie Lynch)

Hi everybody,

Should anybody ever encounter a guy named Robbie Boland, beware!

This guy is obviously "touring" Germany (preferably Irish pubs) at the moment. He usually claims to be a professional guitar player from Limerick and will tell you that his guitar or his shoulder bag and, of course, his money and his credit card have been stolen and that his tour manager is not be able to pick him up immediately for some stupid reason.

He will also tell you that he has already been a tour musician with The Waterboys, Riverdance, Jamie Clarke, Shane McGowan etc., but it's all evidently bullshit, as I have personally checked with Jamie Clarke.

He is just a mediocre pub musician looking for free accommodation, food, and drink. He is approaching staff, musicians, and guests alike, so watch out and don't let him fool you.

At the moment, he is up to his tricks in Nuremberg, but he must have -- at least -- been to Karlsruhe and Mönchengladbach before.

Update: See later post for photos of Robbie and more better photos. He's back in Germany for 2008.

Reminds me of the time when we were in a pub in Dingle, Ireland and this guy came up telling us he was Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues!

Being the naive one I believed him until a guy told to take not notice he tells those stories to everyone.

But we did overnight in Silvertown which is supposed to be where Shane McGowan's mother lives. Is that correct?

Any Relation to this guy: Pat the Conman?

Why don't you contact the Irish Pubs about him? Although, if he plays for the Irish Pubs he'll probably eat and drink for free anyways.

@ Darkknight: Thanks God, no. I would say he is rather harmless, aside from the fact that he even wants to eat, drink, and, of course, sleep for free even when he is not playing, which is not particularly nice.
@ MoiLV: I already did so.

Did he tarmac your drive as well?

What kind of stupid question is this?

Maybe it was a pikey reference?

Maybe there is more to understanding Ireland than buying an aran sweater, a flat cap and a waxed jacket? God forbid that the Paddies should have tricky subcultural references.

Hehe, got the point now! Pretty uncommon here in Germany, at least right in the middle of a city... and: no, he did not, just emptied the fridge and the crate of beer before we found out and put him back on the road.

Standard Operating Procedure for an Irish boy far from home and the Mammy's cooking.

Hallo...

I do not think this posting is at all neccessary or friendly and must admit to not liking my/our "private" conversation being used here...this guy is harmless and likeable...anybody stupid enough to give him any money - well, thats their own fault...as far as a meal or a beer is concerned...my god - you only give what you've got anyway...

No - he is not a member of my band...No, I wouldn't say I know him...but ..
Yes - he did play a couple of songs with me...Yes, I found him very entertaining...and Yes, He sang and played his songs quite well..
Yes - we enjoyed a few beers together..and No, i did not really believe his stories..
but yes - i enjoyed listening to them..

I do not really think you need to be "warned off" about this guy...just take him with a pince of salt... ;-)

and if you got a pub - let him play for his food + beer...

just don't let him set his tent up there !!

Jamie Clarke

I disagree. I think this posting is quite useful and there's no need for it to be friendly. He's a con man. Of course he's likable; you can't be a successful con man without charisma.

If it was just a matter of "some guy touring the bars offering to play for food, drink and tips", that'd be one thing. But it's not. He's dishonest. That's the problem and it warrants exposure.

woof.

No, it doesn't look as if he's been accused of anything more than being a bum and tall-tale-teller. That doesn't make him a con-man. Read the first post.

If this sentence in the first post is true when the items are not actually lost then he is trying to obtain assistance under false pretences. That's conning.

No one seems to have given him any money or had anything stolen from them. Just some food and board. That's a bum. Nothing worse.

Kat, nobody said anything about giving him money. If someone comes to you with a hard luck story about everything being stolen when they have not and then asks for and receives food and lodging from another then that person is a conman. If you lie about your circumstances in order to obtain anything then you are conning. Now maybe the sob story is true, in which case you might be right, but the implication from the first poster is that it is not.

Yeah, maybe you're right, I guess. But you expect a bum to tell you some hard-luck story. It's part of the job-description.

I expect a bum to fart.

If a bum/tramp/whatever tells a sobs story to get something and it is true then fine, in this case the poster is implying that the story is a lie.

When did food and board come free. amounts to stealing...getting stuff on false pretences - I'm with baddogie on this one...walks like a conman, talks like a conman, takes like a conman (money or not!)...

Conman/Fraudster/Bum on the London trains asking for money for a shelter and he is only 50 pence short - is a Bum/Conman with a herion problem... So all the same shite just that they wear different clothes, have different tools for the trade and want the money for different reasons...

When someone helps out another who is having a spot of bother.

If the bother in question is makey-uppy then the chap deserves to be exposed. If not then his current position at the top of the Google results is a touch unfortunate.

Keydeck,

Quite but I was responding to the oh - he hasn't asked for money; since what does food and boarding costs - it costs money (to somone down the capitalist production line) so it's a rather moot point to make out there is a difference between someone conning food or money or lodging in a Pub.

Thing is, I wouldn't call someone in an honest emergency situation a bum.

Yes, but no one is talking about an emergency situation. By all indications this guy has a history of working like this, in which case he is a con/bum.

Lets look at like this, you have a buddy that has run out of smokes. He usually has them but this day he ran out, when asks to bum one, he isn't a bum.

On the other hand, you have a buddy who never has his own smokes (quitting, broke, but usually been quitting for several months). When he asks for a smoke, he is a bum.

ah, Bumsmoke, classic TV show.

Bumsmoke Mountain
Tagline: Friction burns like the barrel of a Colt 45

So a smoking buddy who bums isn't a bum but a buddy who quit who bums is a bum.

Bum diddy bum bum bum bum.

We call them Hobbysmokers. They are a plague.

I can think of one other TTer who could confirm if this lad played with Riverdance or not. He may be my mates predecessor. If he is the former Riverdance guitarist I'm thinking of, then the guy is legend. Allegedly, he knew he was about to be fired and he pre-empted this during a live performance by breaking into "Thunderstruck" during "Firedance", standing up, bowing and flipping the audience off. Walked offstage and quit. A class act. Things haven't changed much then.

From the Riverdance forum a year and a half ago.

Is he still a bum when said person will occasionally buy smokes for somebody else?

I couldn't find him on the site either, for any of the companys.

True, the guy was harmless if that means not asking for money, stealing anything etc. This is why I was reluctant calling him a con-man. Unfortunately, someone has changed the headline of this thread afterwards.

And yes, of course, a few friends of mine ans I enjoyed his stories -- as we usually enjoy having a few beers with pranksters. It is always a good laugh afterwards.

However, I do not believe my posting to be unfair for two main reasons. First and foremost, I strongly oppose to getting whatever on false pretences. I do not do it myself and I still expect others to behave in an honest way as well (call it naive, that's not the point at the moment). If anybody fools you like the guy in question does, this is the unfair thing. Telling others that such a bum is around is definitely not. The big problem behind that is, that even the most warm-hearted folks are usually not willing to help anybody in real trouble after being fooled by such fraudulent shite.

Second, coming to a live music pub in order to get a gig is one thing, but pretending to have played with quite a lot famous musicians and telling sob-stories to staff and guests alike in order to get free b&b and not really being interested in a gig is another. The pub owner was about to give this guy a gig in october, but after a few days at staff members' apartments, this bum did -- for obvious reasons -- not show up at the pub again but approached new folks in another pub with a similar story...

Okay, so what it comes down to is the percieved definition of the terms 'bum' and 'con man'.
Both relieve you of hospitality or property without repayment. At what point a 'bum' graduates to 'con-man' seems to be under some dispute still...

I'm guessing, when the bum systematically earns enough above subsistence level and comes under the remit of fraud laws, he graduates from bum to con-man? Can a con-man be relegated like Unterhaching to bum status?

Well the concensus seemed to be that a 'bum' graduates to 'con-man' when he starts lying.
So: 'Can you put me up tonight? I haven't gotten around to working this year' = Bum
'Can you put me up tonight? This month's €1,000,000 check hasn't cleared yet.' = Con-man

So a con-man is a bum with vision and entreprenurial spirit?

In this case, our friend is a con-man rather than a bum. If you take a look at his long record (see Keydeck's posting), he obviously has some entrepreneurial spirit, hehe.

woof woof...if you read the first posting you will see that he was not been accused of anything much...apart from not being whom he claims to be !!
I dont think he "cons" people out of anything - he's bold enough to ask them for it - straight !! And I do think thats different.
I presume that he must of upset someone to warrant this "exposure", which I am sure would not happen to a proffessional "con-man" - don't you agree ?
When I was contacted about this man, I found it an amusing story...I don't think you can make an opinion up about someone you never met - can you ?

Well, I've met him...and he didn't fool me for more than a second...but I quite liked him after 2...

...and a neccessary evil. These thing keep us all happy little teddies.
Does Bush's behaviour in Iraq make him a bum or a conman or the christian face of both?
This is just a midnight statement and follow up question.
Good morning! I, like Lenny Henry, have an enquiring mind!

of course this is plain stupid of him...when one is "conning", "bumming" or "asking" for assistance..one should not bite the hand that feeds...

I still didn't like you quoting me though...that was between you and me...and like I said - I enjoyed his company.

He didn't quote you, he only referenced you. You confirmed what role he had and this was relayed. It wasn't the exposure of personal communication so much as it was a validated fact with a reference. We get it: you found the guy affable, he can play well enough, and you don't mind being lied to. Understood. Please understand that a great many of us don't like liars and cons. As I wrote before, had he only been looking for gigs it would be one thing but he's claiming to have worked for and with people he hasn't, presents hard-luck stories in order to get free digs, and in short, is a con man. Fuck him.

woof.

To quote the reply I received concerning this chap from the Riverdance of 5 years:


It's a start. It may actually turn out that this "musician" who another "musician" calls a "musician", right here in this thread, might not be a "musician" but bad or worse still. Still think it's overreaction to go internetzapokalyptikz over some lad who sounds essentially harmless. You could level the accusation "con" at worthier folk and it's interesting to me that the poster says they're German in their profile*. My immediate personal interpretation - Rechthablerei, overblown sense of civic duty, much puffing of pigeonchest usw...

Wonder what other musicians make of the situation, he sounds like a harmless chancer to be honest, a bit of a rogue in a teacup. No wait, another musician with an idea of life on the road and necessary interaction with folk might just have seen through all his subterfuge and driven a sabre of sense into the matter - he was looking for a place to stay and told a few tall storys. Did someone else in the thread say that already? The bloke unwantedly referenced/contacted by the OP? Like Ozzy never did. Denmark, rotten, you join the little invisible dotty things. He's obviously not been to the TellTattler Amt to get his proper con-man Bescheinigung and until this happens will remain open to co-option for Wichtigtuerei.

I think the OP is an attention seeker and blowing the situation out of all proportion, perhaps for reasons we don't know about. Just my Senfele. Maybe Hilu in its zest, fervour and Inspector Gadget phase should commission input from the folk this "musician" allegedly stayed with and ripped off, some correlation and affirmation that he is indeed a "con-man" of the highest order. It may simply be, that he is a musician marooned and more in need of a samaritan than a self-appointed whistleblower.

_{*that's not prejudice, that's observation}

@PB

Would you mind condensing your last post into a one-liner ( Cliffs/Monarch notes type rendition) version so I can understand what all that gobbledygook means?

I think the OP is blowing the situation out of proportion. Upshot. Why do I have to type real sentences?

Didn't expect such a fast, direct reply. You don't have to. I generally enjoy your gobbledygook. Poking around a little I guess.

so robbie boland has already turned up as a con on the riverdance forum from about three years ago.

doesn't this strike anyone as odd?

that maybe the guy actually IS a con man, that music is his schtick?

con men and women - like all narcissists - are very charming and fun to be with. just wait til you get on their bad side

Hi everybody,

I am new to this forum and I actually just found you because I checked this Robbie Boland out on the internet.
Being one of the staff members he stayed with for a night, I simply wanted to know whether he has done stuff like this before or really was a fellow in need of help. We don't mind helping out people, who are in a tight spot because of unfortunate circumstances but he obviously is a professionel conman/trickster/bum; whatever. I don't really care what name you call guys like that, it's still a practice I don't approve of. Therefore I think that hilu was right exposing this guy on the internet.
Robbie actually is an entertaining fellow, his stories all seem quite far fetched but he is an ok musician. He hasn't stolen anything but the amount of beer he drank for only playing a couple of songs added up...
He has been to another irish pub in Nuremberg though, asking the barman, who happened to be the owner of the place, for one hundred euros, and that is a different story. Of course he didn't get any money but I have to agree with hilu, that people like Robbie can harden good hearted people against people in REAL need of help.
Well, I said my two cents and wish everybody a good day.

Yes, it´s on the forum but nothing conclusive, just someone calling bullshit on him having played with Riverdance at all. My mate who spent 6 years as the guitarist for the Lagan company says he's heard of him, before his time, before he got the Lagan seat. So a Robbie Boland played with Riverdance, as guitarist and dancer. Odd combination, he may have been part of the flying column. With some extra effort, I could rustle up a few more connections to see if he's played with one of the other bands mentioned.

But according to Jamie Clarke, he is a musician, plays quite well and as is traditional in Ireland, gets his pints and his grub paid for. Most people do this voluntarily, you get sent drinks during your set and after, you get chatting to people and they buy you drinks, sometimes food and sometimes if you're stuck and someone's magnanimous enough, you get a floor to crash on.

I toured on and off for four years and shit actually happens, tour managers do fuck off with your money, pub owners mysteriously evaporate when it's time to get paid, that person who said they'd put you up is suddenly on spontaneous honeymoon in Cambodia and you have to sleep standing up in a telephone box in some one-horse town in the west of Ireland, you lose your wallet and bank cards while climbing lamp posts for dares by groupies and then lose the rest of your band, the drummer goes AWOL and you have improvise for an unruly crowd and end up getting paid in whiskey and steak instead of cash, your record label pull a cheap stunt and neglect to book you an onward flight for the second leg of your flight home and you get stuck in Bumsrush International for two days with no money and no credit card, living off tea and stolen biscuits until you can muster someone at home to fork up the readies for your flight home and occasionally a crazy Italian will wave a loaded gun in your face, just when you thought circumstances couldn't get any more SNAFU. Shit like that. Henry Rollins wrote a rather good book about his experiences on the road in "Get In The Van".

The sob story aspect seems to be transforming him from musician into bum into con-man. A pub musicians life can hover dangerously close to destitution when your financial leash is only as long as the reliability and good will of the pub you've played in, living hand to mouth, gig to gig. I can think of a few ex-pat musicians in Munich in similar circumstances. Quite frankly, and I'd like to hear what other experienced musicians have to say on the matter, I think this is internet alarmism and the discussion needs some balance.

This bloke however may be claiming to be Robbie Boland, which is something else entirely.

Edit: ah, Garfields posted while I was typing.

Agreed, that puts a slightly different spin on things. 100 yoyos upfront or what? For playing or to help him out? Playing Devils Advocate to myself now, but if he's a good musician, surely he can busk to rustle up some readies...