Sepultura The set was billed as Sepultura featuring Steve Vai, but guitar virtuoso Vai wasn’t as significant a presence as his prominent placement suggested. Vai showed up for the last two songs in the hourlong set by the veteran Brazilian metal band, jamming on an instrumental medley of Sepultura’s “Kaiowas” and Vai’s “Bad Horsie,” and then adding a bit of flair to set closer “Roots Bloody Roots.” Before that, Sepultura delivered a solid set celebrating 30 years as a band, as touted on the logo behind it (although only bassist Paulo Jr. has actually been in the band that entire time).

The sound mix was disappointingly muddy, though, with such heavy bass that guitarist Andreas Kisser was frequently drowned out, and even Vai’s guitar heroics weren’t always as audible as they should have been. Still, the band played with energy and precision, performing songs ranging from early-’90s favorites “Arise” and “Refuse/Resist” (which inspired a crowd sing-along) to new, never-before-played fan tribute “Sepultura Under My Skin,” set for release as a single in June.

Singer Derrick Green (himself American) noted that the band rarely gets the chance to play in the U.S. anymore (this show was the kick-off for their 30th-anniversary North American tour), and then announced that the final song was being broadcast live in Brazil. The somewhat small but enthusiastic crowd followed his suggestion to “say hello to Brazil!” and the sound mostly cooperated, as Vai and Kisser traded licks on the anthemic “Roots Bloody Roots,” and the audience gave viewers in Brazil something to be jealous of.

Deftones “Who was that?” asked the dude next to me after a special guest joined Deftones for “Passenger,” singing the parts recorded by Tool’s Maynard James Keenan, since Deftones singer Chino Moreno hadn’t said a word of introduction or acknowledgement. Credit where it’s due: It was Tim McIlrath of Rise Against, who’d played the main stage just before the Deftones’ set, and he sounded close enough to Keenan that I briefly thought the enigmatic singer had made the trip to Rock in Rio just drop in on one song.

McIlrath’s appearance was probably the highlight of a typically tight, powerful Deftones set, which opened with the bracing “Rocket Skates,” with its “guns, razors, knives” refrain, and included radio hits “My Own Summer (Shove It)” and “Change (In the House of Flies),” which got the largest crowd response. Moreno didn’t have a whole lot to say other than “thanks,” which was probably enough. That left more time for music, including a moody version of “Sextape” (complete with vintage nude-girl videos) and an intense show-closing duo of “Engine No. 9” and “Headup.”

The muddy sound mix at the second stage at first seemed better than during Sepultura’s set, but eventually the bass started overpowering the rest of the sound, although not quite as strongly as before. That did erase some of the nuances in the band’s sound, but it didn’t stop the crowd from appreciating the songs—whether or not they knew who was singing.

Metallica Although the festival has been running remarkably punctually for the most part, the headliners have had trouble with lateness, and Metallica didn’t hit the main stage until 35 minutes after its scheduled 11:10 p.m. start time. The band was determined to deliver a full set, too, meaning that it played for a little over two hours and didn’t depart until nearly 2 a.m. That also meant that the crowd was a bit lethargic at times, even though the hardcore fans were more than happy to participate in audience sing-alongs on Metallica classics like “Master of Puppets” and “Sad but True.” “It got quiet out there—that scares me,” frontman James Hetfield noted after a strong rendition of “The Unforgiven” that seemed to get little response.

But fans rallied even as the hour got later, cheering and chanting before the encore. Metallica remains a dependable but incredibly predictable live act, and the set was full of concert staples like “Creeping Death,” “Enter Sandman,” “Nothing Else Matters” and “Seek and Destroy,” played exactly the same way as always. The only real surprise was “King Nothing,” played for the first time since 2011, giving a relatively rare spotlight to the Load/Reload era that the band seems mostly determined to forget.

“King Nothing” sounded more refreshing than dire 2014 single “Lords of Summer,” which doesn’t bode well for the band’s upcoming album (“Hurry the hell up,” Hetfield joked, mimicking fan impatience), and “Cyanide,” from 2008’s Death Magnetic, was another lull in the setlist. Even on those songs, though, the band seemed energized, happy to play their first full headlining show in the U.S. in nearly two years (“Maybe too long,” Hetfield admitted), not to mention their first Vegas show since 2009. Drummer Lars Ulrich may have a little trouble keeping up on some of the faster parts of older songs like “Master of Puppets” and “Blackened,” but overall these guys can still deliver, even if they’re delivering the same material in the same packaging.

Metallica setlist:

“Fuel”

“Master of Puppets”

“King Nothing”

“Disposable Heroes”

“Welcome Home (Sanitarium)”

“Lords of Summer”

“The Unforgiven”

“Cyanide”

“Sad But True”

“Turn the Page”

“One”

“For Whom the Bell Tolls”

“Blackened”

“Nothing Else Matters”

“Enter Sandman”

Encore:

“Whiskey in the Jar”

“Creeping Death”

“Seek and Destroy”