Could you leave all the 2nd layout objects off the screen, or cover them with a "Loading" image until loading is mostly done?
Use preload on sounds, and check for "Preload Complete" on sounds and music, then start the level.
Construct2 isn't supposed to start the layout until all the images are loaded, so that shouldn't be it.
(However if you have a long song that downloads slow, it could hang the game awhile. So you might have that check time out if the song doesn't load.)