This strange, otherworldly show lived up to its name

“Welcome to the second recording session for this still quite-new band,” Stuart Murdoch says with a grin. His tongue is firmly in cheek – Belle and Sebastian, the indie-pop group he’s led for more than half his life, is on tour celebrating its 30th year. In 1996, the bookish Scots made their debut with two albums: Tigermilk and If You’re Feeling Sinister . On this anniversary tour, they’re alternating playing those records in full. Melbourne gets the Sinister treatment.

Playing albums in full live can be a cynical cash-cow in the age of commodified nostalgia, but there’s no denying the sheer delight of hearing a beloved album like this in all its glory. On record, Sinister ’s arrangements are delicate; live, they’re injected with a shot of joyous energy, with buzzing synth to boot.

Many of these songs begin with Murdoch alone, singing with that sweet, instantly recognisable voice, before the eight other musicians on stage slowly blossom to create sunlight in musical form. Lead guitarist Stevie Jackson raucously takes on the harmonica for Me and the Major , his movements a chaotic blur.

As the album reaches its halfway point, a projection behind the band shows the LP being flipped on a turntable – “a bit of antiquated attention to detail,” Murdoch says. Eager fans have been dancing in the aisles from the beginning, but when the band plays Get Me Away, I’m Dying , the entire venue is on its feet. The gorgeous Mayfly is another highlight from this half, but really, it’s all joy, not least because Murdoch and co are clearly having a blast, too.

Murdoch’s signature humour is on display all night as he intersperses the music with quips, including a spiel about Victoria’s slogans as seen on number plates and a joke about Viagra as he takes his medication on stage. “Back to sweetness and light!” he says, and back they go.

A guitar-heavy I’m a Cuckoo kicks off the second set, comprising songs from the rest of the band’s long career. Belle and Sebastian have such a varied discography that it’s a grab-bag every night. There are some deeper cuts here, such as 2010’s Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John , recorded with Norah Jones; here, it’s long-time vocalist Sarah Martin who does the honours, beautiful as ever. 2006’s Funny Little Frog is a charming, nostalgic treat.

The band is pulling songs out on the fly by the end, with Another Sunny Day closing the night. It’s apt – with 30 years of sunny days up their sleeves, Belle and Sebastian keep on delivering. Reviewed by Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen

We’re all getting restless. Twenty minutes after the curtain was meant to go up for the opening show of Lyric Opera’s Serse , we’re still waiting for the conductor to raise his baton. Eventually, company artistic director and conductor Patrick Burns addresses the audience, explaining that though they’ve tried to fix the issue, they’ve had no success.

Both projectors have died. For the near-three-hour Italian opera we’re about to witness, there will be no surtitles. No translations. Oh dear.

Turns out, if it was sung in English, it’d be hard to follow anyway.