Animal Collective's Weitz Seeks Parkinson's Donations

Believe it or not, the men of Animal Collective aren't always mucking about in masks or drumming and strumming their way to catharsis. Sometimes they are serious, quite serious, and that is the case with today's bit of Animal Collective news.

Simply put, Brian "Geologist" Weitz of Animal Collective has a grandfather who is suffering from the late stages of Parkinson's disease. The central nervous disorder, believed to afflict over one million people in the U.S. alone, results from a lack of dopamine in nerve cells and often leaves the afflicted unable to go about day-to-day activity.

Wrote Geologist in a personal message relayed via his publicist, "my grandfather...has been in the hospital hanging on for 2 months now. He had emergency surgery for something unrelated to the Parkinson's, however because of it, he has not been able to fully wake up or recover."

To help the cause of his grandfather and all those with Parkinson's, Weitz has decided to join his mother on the Parkinson Council's 2007 Walk for Parkinson's in Philadelphia. Geologist and Mom will tread ten miles to raise funds for Parkinson's research, but they need your help! Donate directly to Weitz's fundraising efforts via his personal Walk page. Act soon, however, as the walking shoes hit the pavement April 21.

Animal Collective's paws, meanwhile, hit the tour trail with Sir Richard Bishop this May.

Dates:

05-14 Columbus, OH - Wexner Center #
05-15 Newport, KY - Southgate House #
05-16 Lexington, KY - The Dame #
05-17 Chicago, IL - Metro #
05-18 Iowa City, IA - The Picador #
05-19 Omaha, NE - Sokol Underground #
05-20 Lawrence, KS - The Granada Theatre #
05-21 Denver, CO - Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom #
05-22 Salt Lake City, UT - In the Venue #
05-24 Albuquerque, NM - Launchpad #
05-25 Marfa, TX - The Marfa Ballroom #
05-26 Dallas, TX - The Granada Theater #
05-27 Austin, TX - Antone's #
05-28 Birmingham, AL - Bottletree #
05-29 Knoxville, TN - Bijou Theatre #
05-30 Charlottesville, VA - Satellite Ballroom #
07-19-22 Valencia, Spain - Benicàssim Festival

# with Sir Richard Bishop