i dun play EQ2 but it seems the players caught the FFIX bug in "you do this and only this, i don't care if you can do this other thing good too" deal.
but as i can recall from my EQ1 days as a bard, it was simple.
enter party-get to party-start singing a song for party-puller pulls-tank starts to tank-you sing your 2-4 party songs-enter combat while singing said 2-4 songs(aka. push the A button and whatever hotkeys your songs are on in sucession...this can cause carpel tunnel, or at least sore fingers & bones)
bards of EQ1 could solo almost anything up to 50 easily, provided a large area to run around and monsters didn't resist snare or you didnt slip up your song combos.
low on the fabled "DPS" scale(i never use that term, nor will i ever...its a load of crap to me) bards like rogues tended to favor fast weapons and generally had high dex, so hitting wasn't a problem...also bards also favored procing weapons so that helped too. bards could also wear some plate and could take a hit, though lower hps than their ranger or warrior brothers offset that.
instruments.. once a bard got his epic(now referred to as epic 1.0 over there) he/she never "needed" to use an instrument again, as the blade emulated every type of instrument.(needed as in not having to carry around 4 different things, but some instruments were paramount to convenience, like the super percussion instruments for the run songs.)
about the songs, a single bard could perform any role in a party almost(i tanked a few times, can you believe that? though it took a lot of coordination which a lot of gamers lack nowadays). caster heavy? play that set of songs. fighter heavy, got yas covered. a balanced party is where bards had to pick & choose more carefully.
bards were 1st-2nd picks for crowd control(often competing with those they called "enchanters") because of their many ways to incapacitate an enemy. i.e. snaring or sleeping or offtanking or kiting it.
now i dunno how bard types play over on EQ2 but someone expecting it to be the same as the old version might be in for a surprise.