"Does he have a beard and a big wooden sword?"
I think it's fair to say Steve is only interested in English ceilidh, not in any other kinds of dancing and especially in this context not any kind of song. I suspect, therefore, he may have found it hard to sit though 20 minutes of song performance, never mind how who and how good it was. Some of the social dance diehards would have a similar view - they really aren't there for song events.

For the same reason, I suspect that if all the talking part had happened first, he would have left as soon as the music started, though at least he'd have then known what the campaign was about.

That's not intended as a criticism of the way the concert was organised, just a possible explanation of how things happened the way they did.

Anahata