Avenger or Bard? What class should I play?

For our D&D 4th Edition game on Saturday we decided to create new characters using classes from the PHB2. My girlfriend was pretty unhappy with the Warlord she played before and I wanted to try out one of the new classes.

One of the first classes I fell in love with was the Avenger. Dave Chalker has written a nice preview of this class on his blog and I instantly wanted to play one. I almost instantly had some ideas on how to play an avenger and I being able to dish a lot of damage is always a plus in my book. 😉

But when I got my hands on a copy of the PHB2 myself I noticed another cool class: the bard (by the way, Berin Kinsman has written a great preview of the bard)! What I like about the bard is the versatility. And since our party lacks someone who can fulfill the leader rule, the bard would fit right in. BUT I am not sure if I can convincingly play a bard. It would be a greater challenge for me then playing the aforementioned avenger. 

When the choice falls on the avenger I will probably play a deva and the bard’s race will be human or half-elf. So, has anyone of you already played either class and give me an advice? Or do you have some good ideas on how to play a bard?