Last weekend in Indo, CA, the Big 4 of '80s thrash - METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH and ANTHRAX - played their very first show together on North American soil. Before the show, Spin caught up with the bands - Metallica's Lars Ulrich, Megadeth's Dave Mustaine, Slayer's Tom Araya, and Anthrax's Scott Ian. Here are a few excerpts from the chat:

Spin: You've all been at this for 30 years. Do you still get nervous for a big show?

Lars Ulrich: "I prefer to use the word 'anxious.' There's an anticipatory energy that sits around the whole day. You wanna get up there and do you thing... and on the other side of that, there's a shower and a glass of wine [laughs]. That's always good after spending the whole day in the desert."

Scott Ian: "Oh, yeah. I definitely have nerves. It's nervous excitement like when you're a kid and it's a week away from Christmas and you can't sleep."

Dave Mustaine: "I guess the clinical term is nervous. My adrenaline starts to rev and I start getting fired up. But I love getting up on stage. On this last tour I had some really weird thing where I had a bunch of kidney stones. I thought I had appendicitis and I was gonna die in Siberia. I'm sweating, jumping up and down in pain, the doctor says I've got blood in my pee and a kidney stone. The promoter went out there and said in their native tongue, 'Dave is supposed to go to the hospital but is refusing to go. He's gonna play for you and he'll be going to the hospital after the concert.' I love playing."

Tom Araya: "I always get nervous before I perform. It doesn't really matter the size of the gig. It could be before 100 people and I'll get nervous. My heart palpitates and sometimes I get nervous enough that I throw up. It used to happen a lot in my earlier days."

Spin: Of all the musicians on the tour, who's your favorite to watch on stage?

Araya: "That's a tough one, but entertaiment-wise, Anthrax is very animated. They move, they run."

Ulrich: " Idon't want to play favorites. The complete O.T.T.-ness of what Slayer does blows me away. Anthrax, the unity they have, the balance they have is really, really cool. But the band that's closest to my own heart musically is definitely Megadeth. My DNA makeup and what gets my dick hard; there's more stuff I grew up on."

Ian: "(Slayer drummer Dave) Lombardo comes to mind first. He's such a fucking maniac, he's such an insane drummer. And he just makes it look effortless... Seeing Slayer on the Clash Of The Titans tour back in '91, there were so many nights where I had my own circle pit of one behind Lombardo's drum riser. I would just be back there going around in a circle by myself."

Mustaine: "I would have to say that Dave is pretty much the most talented drummer out of all of 'em. I think everybody knows that. Scott's a fun guitar player. And the hit-writing team of Hetfield, Hammett and Ulrich? They've taken the guitar style we developed and perfected it. [My favorite] changes from night to night — plus, Slayer has a different guitar player every night because of Jeff (Hanneman)'s unfortunate accident. (Hanneman is currently recovering from a flesh-eating virus that attacked his arm) God bless you, Jeff, I hope you get better."

Read the entire interview here.

Following the April 23rd concert at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, CA, the Big 4 have announced another US show at New York's Yankee Stadium on September 14th.

Check out a Big 4 does Yankee Stadium promo spot featuring Metallica's James Hetfield here.