A hands-on Aerosmith experience

If you were in the right place during Aerosmith’s nearly sold-out Wednesday concert at Staples Center, you could touch singer Steven Tyler. Or guitarist Joe Perry. Or bassist Tom Hamilton. Contact was exhilarating but brief -- after all, fans’ loving hands, if allowed to linger, can quickly rip a rocker to shreds -- but still added an unpredictable edge to the mostly predictable proceedings.

Yet it was all part of the show on this first of two So Cal appearances (the second coming tonight at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim), as these veterans attempted to shrink the distance between themselves and fans by prowling around a sprawling catwalk looping out onto the main floor, plus a pair of stage-flanking ramps extending into the first tier of mezzanine seats on either side.

The setup certainly didn’t change things much for those in the nosebleed seats, who got the more conventional giant video screen, but it did create a sense of intimacy for a greater number of fans.

Ironically, at times it also created a lot of distance between the players, who also included guitarist Brad Whitford (who didn’t ramble about as much), drummer Joey Kramer and touring keyboardist Russ Irwin.

That didn’t keep Aerosmith from expertly executing a nostalgic 1 hour and 45 minute set, with Perry’s swaggering riffs providing an irresistible counterpoint to Whitford’s supple style, and the R&B-flavored; rhythm pumped out by Hamilton and Kramer giving the music its swinging soul.

Strangely, despite the deep vein of power ballads in Aerosmith’s catalog, emotional intimacy wasn’t a strong point. The bluesy lamentation “Seasons of Wither” provided a rare moment of real connection, as did the classic “Sweet Emotion,” its contrast of soaring harmonies and gritty axework representing the band’s enduring balance of lightness and heaviness.

Without a new album to promote, there was a slight whiff of jukebox about the affair, loaded with such 1970s favorites as the salacious boogie “Walk This Way,” the road-weary rocker “No More No More” and the quintessential power ballad “Dream On.”

They sprinkled in a few ‘90s numbers and selections from 2004’s blues collection “Honkin’ on Bobo,” but for some reason skipped their 1980s comeback phase entirely.

Even when Tyler stepped back and Perry took his frontman moment, it was for his 2005 solo tune “Shakin’ My Cage” rather than anything from the Reagan-era Joe Perry Project.

Still, the party-on show was a reminder -- in this pop era ruled by blinged-out rappers, thrashing gloom merchants and manufactured divas -- of rock’s populist allure, if not always its power and majesty.

Eh, but Aerosmith was never about power and majesty so much as gettin’ down and dirty, blending blues and boogie and attitude and sexy nudge-nudge, wink-wink into a lean, alley-cat kind of hard rock that’s proven more adaptable than many similar species.

And up close or far away, the crowd said, “Right on!”

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Aerosmith

Where: Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, 2695 E. Katella, Anaheim

When: 7:30 tonight

Price: $55-$125

Contact: (714) 704-2500