Should I stay at a hotel right next to the venue?

Usually not. Hotels right by a big venue jump in price for concert weekends and sell out first, and you are still stuck in the same post-show crowd anyway. Staying one or two subway stops away on the line you ride home is normally cheaper, easier to book, and barely adds to the trip back. That is the whole point of our per-concert guides: the cheaper nearby areas, plus the exact way home after the encore.